Reaction Kinetics and Mass Transfer of Photocatalytic Fenton for Phenol Degradation in a Petroleum Refinery Wastewater

Phenol is one of the most common organic pollutants discharged from many industries in wastewater. Its presence in wastewater causes many environmental and health issues. Phenol can be removed using various technological methods, including photocatalytic techniques. A photocatalytic reactor was designed to investigate the kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of phenol in petroleum refinery wastewater by an iron-doped zeolite catalyst. The present study revealed the best conditions for the total removal of 200 mg/L of phenol using iron-doped zeolite 0.7 g/L as a catalyst with an ultraviolet irradiation time of 60 min at the hydrogen power of 3 and temperature of 40 ℃. The efficacy of the iron-doped zeolite photocatalytic reactor was determined by analyzing the kinetics of phenol decomposition in the aqueous solution. The kinetic model was derived using a quasi-steady state approach to obtain essential kinetics parameters. The kinetics findings showed that the phenol degradation data fit with a first-order kinetic model. The Thiele modulus, effectiveness factor, and Wagner-Weisz-Wheeler modulus values were calculated at different reaction temperatures. The results indicated that the influence of mass transfer on the total reaction rate can be disregarded. The Arrhenius equation was used to calculate the activation energy for phenol oxidation via photocatalytic reaction, and it was 47.54kJ/mol.