BTX Photodegradation Using Synthetic Nano Photocatalysts

A photocatalytic tapered bubble column reactor was utilized to extract benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) organic pollutants from petroleum effluent. The reactor had an internal diameter that increased from 0.07 meters at the bottom to 0.17 meters at the top, a tapered angle of 1.6 degrees, a length of 1.8 meters, and a capacity of approximately 20 liters. Additionally, the reactor was equipped with a Fe-doped TiO2 catalyst. Different air flow rates (0-3 L/min), contact periods (0-120 min), and liquid flow rates (160-600 L/hr) were used in the photocatalyst with four submerged LED lamps (wavelength of 200–550 nm). Each of the LED lamps had a power output of 50W. The results show that increasing the liquid flow rate increases the rate removal of COD, and the maximum decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD) was 92% when gas flow rate= 3L/min, liquid flow rate = 200L/min, light intensity = 200Watt after two hours of irradiation. The kinetic study reveals that the degradation process is fitted with a pseudo first-order model with (R2=0.9304, s.d. 0.00204).