Degradation mechanism of Phenol by ozonation

Abstract

Ozonation was chosen to study the degradation mechanism of phenol. The overall performances of phenol degradation were studied based on the removal of phenol, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and residue ozone. Different parameters such as initial concentration, contact time and pH were used to examine the performance of ozonation on phenol. The results indicated ozonation was suitable for phenol with initial concentration under 200 mg/L and longer contact time is needed if the initial concentration exceeds 200 mg/L. The performance of ozonation was found to be effective under basic conditions of pH 11 rather than acidic and neutral conditions. It was also found that intermediate products such as carboxylic acids, aldehydes and ketones formed under oxidation of phenol with the support results in FT-IR. The kinetics of ozone shown the oxidation of phenol is first order reaction that depends on the initial concentration of phenol.