Assessment of TiO2/ZnO/H2O2 Photocatalyst to treat wastewater from oil refinery within visible light circumstances

Abstract

This study examined the use of the ZnO/TiO2/H2O2 process in suspension mode under visible light (VL) (1000 W/m2) to reduce TOC from the real petroleum wastewater in Sohar Refinery Company (SRC). The parameters such as treatment period (TP), ZnO concentration, pH, H2O2 concentration, and TiO2 concentration were tested for recognizing the optimal circumstances, which were (175 min), (0.59 g / l), (5.5), (0.85 g / l), and (0.7 g / l), respectively. The efficiency of treatment improved from 15 percent to 36.5 percent for total organic carbon (TOC) at pH 5.5 relative to the TiO2 process. The treatment period (TP) decreased up to 200%. The use of alternative energy sources and acceptable cost make this technique a special treatment approach for the real petroleum wastewater. Furthermore, the results in the optimum operational condition met with the effluent standards for wastewater.

Keywords

• Refinery wastewater
• TiO2/ZnO/H2O2 Photocatalyst
• Advanced oxidation process (AOPs)