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Selective oxidative degradation of toluene for the recovery of surfactant by an electro/Fe2+/persulfate process

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Abstract

An electro/Fe2+/persulfate process has been conducted for toluene removal from surfactant (SDS) flushing solution, and the pseudo-second-order reaction rate constant (k 2 value) of toluene removal has been optimized by a response surface methodology (RSM). The results indicated that in this process, the reaction between persulfate and externally added Fe2+ generates sulfate-free radicals, and at the same time, Fe2+ is electro-regenerated at the cathode by the reduction of Fe3+. RSM based on Box–Behnken design (BBD) has been applied to analyze the experimental variables, of which the concentrations of persulfate and Fe2+ showed a positive effect on the rate constant of toluene removal, whereas the concentration of SDS showed a negative effect. The interactions between pairs of variables proved to be significant, such as between SDS, persulfate, and Fe2+ concentrations. ANOVA results confirmed that the proposed models were accurate and reliable for analysis of the variables of the electro/Fe2+/persulfate process. The shapes of the 3D response surfaces and contour plots showed that the SDS, persulfate, and Fe2+ concentrations substantially affected the k 2 value of toluene removal. The results indicated that increasing persulfate or Fe2+ concentration increased the k 2 value, whereas increasing SDS concentration decreased the k 2 value. The reaction intermediates have been identified by GC-MS, and a plausible degradation pathway for toluene degradation is proposed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No 20977069). LONG A.H. would like to acknowledge the Ph.D. Research Startup Foundation of Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University (Grant No. 3000990115).

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Anhua Long & Hui Zhang

  2. Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Jiangxi, 330013, China

    Anhua Long

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  1. Anhua Long
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  2. Hui Zhang
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Correspondence to Hui Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

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Long, A., Zhang, H. Selective oxidative degradation of toluene for the recovery of surfactant by an electro/Fe2+/persulfate process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 11606–11616 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4406-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4406-x

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