Abstract

HERNANDEZ-SHEK, Manuel Alejandro; AGUDELO HENAO, Ana Cecilia; MENDOZA MARIN, Claudia  and  TORRES CASTANEDA, Harlen. Solar photo-Fenton optimisation in treating carbofuran-contaminated water. Ing. Investig. [online]. 2012, vol.32, n.1, pp.71-76. ISSN 0120-5609.

Box-Benkhen design response-surface methodology was developed to optimise photo-Fenton degradation of carbofuran (C₁₂H₁₅NO₃) by using a compound parabolic collector pilot plant. The four variables considered in Box-Benkhen design model included carbofuran degradation percentage, initial carbofuran concentration, hydrogen peroxide [H₂O₂] concentration and iron [Fe²⁺] concentration. Degradation was monitored by using total organic carbon concentration and high-performance liquid chromatography. A 93.2 mg l^-1 carbofuran concentration was completely degraded in t_30W = 15 min with 17.1 mg l;^-1 Fe²⁺ and 121.6 mg l^-1 H₂O₂. Photo-Fenton degradation led to 76.7% mineralisation. Biodegradability during optimisation was evaluated by using the BOD5/COD ratio; this value increased from 0.04 at the beginning of the process to 0.52 in t_30W = 20 min, thereby showing the effectiveness of using biological treatments.

Keywords : Pesticide; carbofuran; photo-Fenton; biodegradability; Box-Benkhen design.

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