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A catalyzed method to remove polychlorinated biphenyls from contaminated transformer oil

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Abstract

The disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as persistent organic pollutants from the environment has been normally performed by isolation from soil or water because of their biological activity and toxic potential. In the present investigation, catalytic hydrodehalogenation was used to detoxify PCBs-contaminated transformer oil. All reactions were directed on an oil containing 11.09 wt% of PCBs utilizing palladium supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Pd/MWCNTs). The amount of hexa-chlorine homologues reduced considerably from 5.07% to less than 800 ppm utilizing HDC at the atmosphere of argon. Moreover, the amounts of long half-lives and bioaccumulative congener of PCB 153 decreased considerably from 3.2% to less than 200 ppm. Besides, the quantity of some environmental pollutants like PCB 105 as a mono-ortho-substituted congener decreased considerably. The significant effects of reaction time, reaction temperature, and catalyst concentration on the efficiency were confirmed and modeled through Box–Behnken design. The optimal reaction condition with an efficiency of 96.67% was 70°C, with catalyst loading of 8 wt% and reaction time of 3.23 h. Furthermore, the quantity of turnover frequency of Pd/MWCNTs showed that it has more activity than palladium-carbon active supported in the ambient pressure without utilizing hydrogen gas in transformer oil complex. The study of the kinetic model revealed that the required activation energy (of 12.99 kJ/mol) to remove PCBs from transformer oil utilizing the present catalyst was lower than other catalyzed hydrodechlorination methods.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article are available in the research institute of standard. Materials are available, too.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Chemistry and Petrochemistry Research Center of Standard Research Institute for their assistance and support.

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The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, South Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Arash Maghami & Mehdi Arjmand

  2. Chemistry and Petrochemistry Research Center, Standard Research Institute, Karaj, Iran

    Nooshin Gholipour-Zanjani

  3. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Farhad Khorasheh

Authors
  1. Arash Maghami
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  2. Nooshin Gholipour-Zanjani
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  3. Farhad Khorasheh
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  4. Mehdi Arjmand
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Contributions

Arash Maghami: preparation and catalyst, performing reactions, data curation, writing – original draft preparation, software; Nooshin Gholipour Zanjani: conceptualization, methodology, software, rewriting – original draft; Farhad Khorashe: methodology, writing – reviewing and editing; Mehdi Arjmand: reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Nooshin Gholipour-Zanjani.

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Maghami, A., Gholipour-Zanjani, N., Khorasheh, F. et al. A catalyzed method to remove polychlorinated biphenyls from contaminated transformer oil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 13253–13267 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16613-4

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