Treatment of Effluent from a Factory of Paints Using Solar Photo-Fenton Process

We evaluated the use of Fenton reactions induced by solar radiation in the treatment of effluent froma factory of paints for buildings, after prior removal of the suspended solids. The increase of H2O2 concentration from 100 to 2500 mg L-1 for a [Fe2+] = 105mgL(-1) contributed to the reduction of DOC, COD, and toxicity. Our best results were achieved using 1600mg L-1 H2O2, with 90% of DOC and CODremoval and a complete removal of the toxicitywith respect to Artemia salina. Additionally, through increasing Fe2+ concentration from 15 to 45mg L-1, theDOC removal rate increased 11 times, remaining almost constant in the range above 45 until 105mg L-1. Under our best experimental conditions, 80% of DOC removal was achieved after an accumulated dose of 130 kJm(-2) of UVA radiation (82 +/- 17 min of solar irradiation under an average UVA irradiance of 34.1 +/- 7.3Wm(-2)), while 40% of DOC removal was reached after 150 min under only thermal Fenton reactions. The results suggest the effectiveness of implementation of solar photo-Fenton process in the decontamination and detoxification of effluents from factories of paints for buildings.