Photochemically activated degradation of reactive dyes - Statistical modeling of the reactor performance

This paper, reports on the degradation/decoloration of a model reactive dye Uniblue A carried out in a cylindrical concentric photochemical immersion type reactor. The main chemical parameters affecting the photo-assisted Fenton degradation have been evaluated in a quantitative way. The degradation of the pollutant was studied in the 5-35 TOC (mg C/l) range. A single exponential function was constructed for the treatment of the data seeking the most economical use of chemicals, electrical energy and time to degrade a given concentration of pollutant. The degradation data was used evaluate the coefficients of the exponential expression rendering 2D-contour plots. The abatement of the pollutant up to almost complete disappearance was susceptible to modeling. The standard deviation between the experimental and the values predicted through modeling by the exponential function was seen to be small. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.