Destruction of Surfactants and Humic Substances in Plazma-Chemical Reactor

Abstract

Background. Wastewater treatment from surfactants and humic substances is an actual and not fully resolved environmental problem. Surfactants are one of the most dangerous pollutants of natural water bodies, which are sources of domestic and industrial water supply. The existing purification technologies have a number of limitations of both scientific and technical, and economic nature. Therefore, the innovative technology of plasma-chemical destruction in a liquid medium is proposed in the work. Objective. The aim of the paper is examination of plasma-chemical destruction of surfactants and humic substances. Methods. A plasma electrochemical unit with a modified plasmogenesis module was used to purify waste water contaminated with the dye. The concentration of surfactants and humic substances in the process of plasma-chemical treatment was determined by UV spectroscopy and spectroscopy in the visible region. Spectra of solutions of surfactants and humic substances were recorded on a spectrophotometer “Schimadzu UV2450”, the wavelength range λ = 200–700 nm. Results. It was established that plasma-chemical treatment of surfactants and humic substances causes rapid destruction of their molecules. Destruction is carried out by degradation of aromatic nuclei of molecules of surfactants and humic substances. Conclusions. It was determined that surfactants and humic substances can be successfully decomposed in the plasma chemical device. The degree of destruction was established to be more than 90 %. A large amount of fine-dispersed carbon particles was determined as result of plazma-chemical decomposition. In prospect, we plan to study the mechanism of destruction of surfactants and humic substances more detailed, as well as the properties of the obtained fine-dispersed carbon particles.

Keywords

• Plasma chemical reactor
• Purification
• Surfactants
• Humic substances
• Destruction
• Temperature