| Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a biocide commonly used in wood treating industries. PCP may be treated with biological or physical/chemical processes, which may be destructive or separative in nature. Separative processes simply transfer the PCP from one medium to another. A practical destructive process is the advanced oxidation process, which is defined as an ambient temperature process that involves the generation of highly reactive radical intermediates.; Advanced oxidation of PCP using hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light was studied. The results of a 2{dollar}sp5{dollar} factorial design indicated that significant variables that had an effect on the degradation of PCP include initial PCP concentration, initial hydrogen peroxide concentration, UV light and time. Temperature did not produce significant effects. The upper initial PCP concentration of 100 mg/l was reduced to 14.97 mg/l in 3450 seconds while the lower value of 0.3 mg/l was reduced to below detectable limits in less than 3450 seconds.; Subsequent kinetic experiments were designed to determine the optimum conditions for the oxidation of PCP. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
