Kinetics study of photocatalytic process for treatment of phenolic wastewater by TiO2 nano powder immobilized on concrete surfaces

In this study, kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of phenolic wastewater in immobilized photocatalytic reactor was investigated. Immobilization of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano powders on concrete surfaces were accomplished with epoxy concrete sealer. Kinetics of photocatalytic reactions has been proposed to follow the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model in different initial phenol concentration, pH, and UV lamp intensity. First-order reaction kinetics with respect to the pollutant concentration was obtained for the reaction. Effect of UV lamp intensity showed that kinetic constants were proportional to the power of 0.73-1 of the photonic flow. In all cases kinetic constant increases as pH of the system reached up to 12 units. Several reaction intermediates were identified using the GC/Mass analysis. Products at the initial stage of the reaction were aromatic compounds, contained hydroquinone, benzoquinone, and catechol. These intermediates underwent further photocatalytic oxidation to aliphatic compounds and finally into CO2 and H2O after 4 h. Kinetic constants of intermediate compounds were determined using mathematical-chemical equations and nonlinear regression. Data showed that the differences between the mathematical model and Langmuir-Hinshelwood model for the kinetic constant was less than 5%.