Degradation of 4-nitrophenol using the Fenton process

In this study, The Fenton process was applied as a pretreatment method to treat industrial wastewater containing 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The effect of oxidant dosages on the decomposition of 4-NP and the reaction kinetics were investigated. More than 99% of 4-NP was readily decomposed when the reaction was carried out at oxidant concentrations of 5 mM H₂O₂ and 5 mg/L Fe²⁺ for 2 hours. The total nitrogenous compounds and the nitrogen gas evolved, accounted for 88% of the initial nitrogen concentration. However, the maximum DOC removal efficiency was 30.6%; and only 1/3 of 4-NP was mineralized to carbon dioxide by the Fenton process. 4-NP degradation profiles fitted well into a pseudo first-order kinetic equation; degradation rate constant (min-1) of 4-NP increased from 4.3×10^-3 to 66.1×10^-3 with increasing dosages of H₂O₂ and Fe²⁺. In addition, the t value was calculated for studying the significance of simulation by the t-test. It was found that the t value was greater than the value for 99% confidence. This result suggested that the 4-NP decomposition profile could be described by the pseudo first-order kinetic equation. Biodegradability of 4-NP before and after the reaction was 0.018 and 0.594, respectively.