Ozone Assisted Photocatalytic Degradation of Textile Wastewater

In present research, photocatalytic degradation of textile wastewater was investigated through the combined effect of ozonation and photocatalysis processes. Catalytic acids in the nano-particle form under moderate reaction conditions were used for the successful disintegration of contaminants in textile wastewater which in turn increases the process efficiency. Moreover, the combined effect of the photocatalytic-ozonation process after secondary treatment of textile wastewater on discharge requirements of zero discharge hazardous chemicals (ZDHC) by Road to Zero was also studied. Different parameters were optimized like ozone flowrate, catalytic concentration, UV light intensity, and reaction time. Results revealed that overall process efficiency is influenced by ozone and reaction time. In contrast, an increased rate of degradation is attributed to the synthesized TiO2 (anatase) in nanoparticle form. The combined ozone-assisted photo-catalytic process showed the COD, BOD, and TSS removal efficiencies of 91.5%, 94%, and 86% at 25 °C temperature and pH 7-9. The results were attained at optimum conditions like reaction time (140 min), Ozone concentration (2 g/hr), TiO2 concentration (2g/L), and UV energy (88 W), respectively. The study demonstrated the efficiency of an integrated process for the degradation of real textile wastewater. Thus, combined photocatalytic and ozonation processes are known to exhibit better responses than individual processes for pollutants removal from textile wastewater.

Muhammad Usman Anwar Khan, Hafiz Miqdad Masood, Najaf Ali and Muhammad Ashraf