Application of the photo-Fenton process to the treatment of wastewaters contaminated with diesel.

The application of the photo-Fenton process for the treatment of wastewaters contaminated with diesel oil was investigated. This particular process has been widely studied for the photochemical degradation of highly toxic organic pollutants. Experiments were performed according to a factorial experimental design at two levels and two variables: H(2)O(2) concentration (5-200 mM) and Fe(2+) concentration (0.01-1 mM). Experimental results demonstrated that the photo-Fenton process is technically feasible for the treatment of wastewaters containing diesel oil constituents, with total mineralization. A combination of factorial experimental design and gradient descent techniques was employed to optimize the amount of the Fenton reagents, resulting in Fe(2+) (0.1 mM) and H(2)O(2) (50 mM). These optimized levels did not exceed the limit for disposal of ferrous ions (0.27 mM) proposed at the local environmental legislation.