Experimental design approach for petrochemical waste water treatment using solar assisted photo Fenton process

In this study, the effect of photo-Fenton process on the treatment of petrochemical waste water treatment was investigated. The influence of process conditions were determined by factorial design. Optimization of the process conditions were performed by central composite design. Under, optimized conditions lab scale and solar assisted pilot scale of petrochemical waste water treatment was performed. Three factors namely initial pH, H₂O₂ concentration (mM) and Fe²⁺ concentration (mM) executed the essential role in petrochemical waste water treatment. Central composite design resulted in the prediction of optimized value as 6.5 initial pH, 15.65 mM of H₂O₂ concentration and 2.09 mM of Fe²⁺ concentration. Under these conditions, the reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) percentage reached about 68.67 ± 2.8% after 280 min in pilot scale of solar assisted photo Fenton process of petrochemical waste water treatment. Thus, experimental design combined with advanced Fenton process can become a feasible unconventional method for petrochemical waste water treatment.