Comparison of Electro-Fenton and Photoelectro-Fenton for removal of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) from petrochemical wastewater

The purpose of this study was the evaluation the Electro-Fenton (EF) and Photo Elecro-Fennton (PEF) efficiencies to remove of some pollution indicators from effluents of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) petrochemical industries affected by the operational parameters such as operation time, pH, current density, and concentration of H2O2. The EF and PEF reactors were made and a batch study was performed to optimize the operational parameters. The optimum operating conditions were determined as pH 5, reaction time 60 min, H2O2 concentration 50 mmol/lit and current density 20 mA/cm2 for EF process and pH 5, operation time 30 min, H2O2 concentration 25 mmol/lit, current density of 20 mA/cm2 for PEF process. The highest removal efficiencies of COD (chemical oxygen demand), turbidity, total kejaldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total suspended solids (TSS) by EF and PEF processes under optimal conditions were obtained 86.7, 88.1, 67.9 and 64.1% for EF and 92.4, 93.7, 70.5 and 67.2% for PEF process, respectively. The PEF process resulted in higher removal efficiencies than that of the EF process to remove COD and TKN especially. Also, the amount of energy consumption for EF and PEF were obtained 10.1 and 9.3 kW h/m3, respectively. The PEF process was more capable to remove the pollutants from wastewater, than the EF process in a shorter time and with a lower H2O2 concentration due to the presence of UV radiation, which causes the photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants.