Industrial wastewater treatment by photochemical processes based on solar energy

Background: The solar photo-Fenton process has enormous potential for becoming a viable alternative to conventional processes for the treatment of industrial waste-water However, the costs associated with the use of artificial irradiation have hindered many times industrial application of these processes. Method of Approach: In this work, the photo-Fenton remediation of various industrial wastewaters (containing silicones, pesticides, phenol and hydrocarbons, model, and real) in aqueous systems has been studied using Fe(H), H2O2, and UV-visible sunlight. Experiments were carried out using a concentrating parabolic trough reactor (PTR) and a nonconcentrating falling-film reactor. Results: In general, at low contaminant concentration, more than 90% of the total organic carbon content could be converted to inorganic carbon within about 2-3 h, using sunlight, in reactors of different geometry. Conclusions: Solar light can be used either as an effective complementary or alternative source of photons to the photo-Fenton degradation process of a diversity of chemical pollutants.