Ozone photolysis of paracetamol in aqueous solution.

The degradation of a paracetamol (N-acetil-para-aminofenol) aqueous solution (C (0) P = 5 mmol L(-1)) is studied in a bench-scale setup by means of simple ozonation (O3) and ozonation catalyzed with UV light (O3/UV) in order to quantify the influence of UV light on the degradation process. The results have shown that under the adopted experimental conditions (25°C, applied ozone dose = 9.8 mg L(-1) and gas flow rate of 20 L h(-1)) both oxidative systems are capable of removing the substrate with mineralization degrees up to 51% for ozonation and 53% for O3/UV. HPICE chromatography allowed the detection of nitrate ions and maleic and oxalic acids as ultimate carboxylic acids. The experimental data have been interpreted through 5 indicators: the conversion of paracetamol (XP ), the conversion degree of TOC (XTOC ), the apparent rate constant (kap ), the Hatta number (Ha) and the enhancement factor (E). The main advantage of photo-ozonation compared to simple ozonation was a more advanced conversion (79% vs. 92% after 90 min). The paracetamol decay follows a pseudo-first-order reaction with a superior rate constant (higher by 54%) for the UV catalyzed system in comparison with direct ozonation. Mineralization is slightly accelerated (+4%) in the O3/UV system, due to the additional production of hydroxyl radicals induced by the UV light and a higher Hatta number (+24%). Nevertheless, the process was still in the slow reaction kinetic regime (Ha < 0.3), and the enhancement factor was not significantly increased. The results are useful for the design and scale-up of the gas-liquid processes.