A new treatment design for water contaminated with phenol

Abstract

Background: Several important designs have been applied to remove toxic and hazardous organic substances like phenol and phenol compounds from wastewater, but there is a need to seek an alternative design to effectively remove organic pollutants from water to less hazardous compounds and a cost-effective system. Methods: A modified internal loop airlift reactor was designed to remove the organic pollutants in synthetic wastewater using an efficient and cost-effective treatment technique by means of a synergistic effect of combination oxidation, stripping, and adsorption. The influence of the current style was experimentally examined in the treatment of synthetic phenol contaminated wastewater. The practical device was tested under different airflow rates range (2-15 L/min) through gross difference retention period (5-60 minutes) at a various molar ratio of phenol to hydrogen peroxide ranging from 1:10 to 1:20. Results: It was revealed that the preferred molar ratio of phenol to hydrogen peroxide equals to 1:20. Moreover, the airflow rate is 15 L/min with longer retention period of 60 minutes, indicating the maximum removal efficiency (89%) of phenol from the synthetic wastewater. Conclusion: Successful removal of phenol from water by the removal efficiency of 89% boosts the success of the executed design as well as the scenario of conducting the synergistic processes (stripping, oxidation and adsorption) in one device and also increases the chances of solving environmental problems via treating wastewater before recycling and releasing it into natural water sources.