Integrated Photocatalytic Oxidation and Adsorption Approach for the Robust Treatment of Refinery Wastewater Using Hybrid TiO2/AC

This study reports the removal of hydrocarbon (HC) pollutants from petroleum refinery wastewater by integrated photocatalytic oxidation and adsorption using a TiO2/AC hybrid material. The hybrid adsorbent/catalyst was prepared by the impregnation of TiO2 over AC and characterized by FTIR, SEM, EDX, and XRD analyses. Under the optimized reaction conditions of pH 3, 30 degrees C, and 1000 mg TiO2/AC per 500 mL of sample in 50 min, the integrated photocatalytic oxidation-adsorption achieved a net percentage removal of benzene, toluene, aniline, and naphthalene of 91% from model HC solutions. Under these conditions, for the treatment of real refinery wastewater, TiO2/AC caused a 95% decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD). The integrated photocatalytic oxidation and adsorption using TiO2/AC showed a clear advantage over the individual adsorption and photocatalytic oxidation using AC and TiO2, whereby about the same level of removal of model HCs and a decrease in the COD of refinery wastewater was attained in 105 min and 90 min, respectively, utilizing larger adsorbent/catalyst dosages. GC-MS analysis revealed that during the integrated process of adsorption-photocatalytic oxidation, all the parent HCs and oxidation byproducts were completely removed from the refinery wastewater. Based on the outstanding performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental greenness, the newly designed TiO2/AC via the integrated adsorption-photocatalytic oxidation can be counted as an effective alternative route for the large-scale processing of refinery wastewater.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the efficient removal of hydrocarbon pollutants from petroleum refinery wastewater using a TiO2/AC hybrid material through integrated photocatalytic oxidation and adsorption. The optimized reaction conditions achieved a high percentage removal of benzene, toluene, aniline, and naphthalene from model HC solutions, as well as a significant decrease in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of real refinery wastewater. The integrated process of adsorption-photocatalytic oxidation using TiO2/AC proved to be a promising alternative for large-scale processing of refinery wastewater.