Back
Full-text
Journal article

Concentrating versus non-concentrating reactors for solar photocatalytic degradation of p-nitrotoluene-o-sulfonic acid

  • Parra, S. Plataforma Solar de Almeria, CIEMAT, 01400 Tabernas, Spain
  • Malato, S. Institute of Environmental Engineering, Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Blanco, J. Institute of Environmental Engineering, Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Péringer, P. Plataforma Solar de Almeria, CIEMAT, 01400 Tabernas, Spain
  • Pulgarin, C. Plataforma Solar de Almeria, CIEMAT, 01400 Tabernas, Spain
Published in:
  • Water Science and Technology. - IWA Publishing. - 2001, vol. 44, no. 5, p. 219-227
Environmental Engineering
Water Science and Technology
English The photocatalytic oxidation of the non-biodegradable p-nitrotoluene-o-sulfonic acid (p-NTS) in homogeneous (photo-Fenton reactions) and heterogeneous (with TiO2) solutions has been studied at a pilot-scale under solar irradiation at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA). In this study two different reactors were tested: a medium concentrating radiation system (Heliomans, HM) and a non-concentrating radiation system (CPC). Their advantages and disadvantages for p-NTS degradation have been compared and discussed. The degradation rates obtained in the CPC collector are around three times more efficient than in the HM collectors. However, in both systems, 100% of the initial concentration of p-NTS was removed. Kinetic experiments were performed in both systems using TiO2 suspensions. During the photodegradation, the disappearance of p-NTS was followed by HPLC, the mineralization of the solution by the TOC technique, the evolution of NO3-, NO2-, and SO4= concentration by ionic chromatography, the toxicity by the standard Microtox® test, and the biodegradability by BOD5 and COD measurements. The obtained results demonstrated the utility of the heterogeneous catalysis (using TiO2 as catalyst) as a pretreatment method that can be followed by a biological process.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/95779
Statistics
Document views: 25 File downloads:
  • Full-text: 0