Degradation of Ibuprofen in Aqueous Solution with UV Light: the Effect of Reactor Volume and pH

Abstract

The presence of trace of pharmaceutical compounds (PhACs) in groundwater and in drinking and superficial waters is a major public health concern. Recently, various advanced treatment technologies have been studied to remove these kinds of pollutants; among them, combined treatments based on UV light appear to be more eco-friendly and with very interesting removal efficiencies if properly modified. In this paper, the removal of Ibuprofen (IBP) from synthetic water streams was investigated by using a lab-scale experimental device consisting of a batch reactor equipped with a lamp emitting monochromatic UV light (254 nm; 400 mJ m −2 ). The IBP initial concentration (C IBP 0 ) was 45.9 mg L −1 . Two sets of experiments were carried out; the first one was aimed at studying the IBP concentration as a function of time, at different volumes of treated solution; the second one was aimed at exploring the effect of pH on IBP degradation as a function of time.The results obtained show that the concentration of IBP decreases along with treatment time, with a negative effect of the treated volume, i.e., smaller volumes, that is lower liquid heights, are more easily degraded. Moreover, the higher the pH, the better the IBP degradation; actually when pH increases from 2.25 to 5.51 and finally to 8.25, the IBP concentration, after an hour of treatment, decreases respectively to 45, 34, and 27 % from its initial value. A reaction mechanism is suggested, which well describes the effects of volume and pH on the experimentally measured IBP degradation.

Photodegradation of diclofenac in wastewaters

“…On the other hand, combined treatments based on UV light appear to be more eco-friendly, also with very interesting removal efficiencies if opportunely devised. Many of the common pharmaceutical compounds can be degraded by UV at disinfection doses [14][15][16][17]. Photodegradation of DCF has been scarcely investigated so far.…”

Sorption of Organic Pollutants by Humic Acids: A Review

“…Nowadays, many pollutants, generated from anthropogenic activities, are found in groundwater and surface water, stimulating the search for efficient cleaning procedures. Several techniques have been tested for treating organic and inorganic wastewaters including sorption [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], membrane filtration [8,9], reverse osmosis [10] and, in recent years, advanced oxidation processes, such as photodegradation [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and electro-oxidation [15,18,19]. Sorption process, a generic term covering the processes of adsorption, absorption and ionic exchange, is one of the most effective methods for wastewater treatment, because of its relatively high efficiency, low-cost, and simplicity [20].…”

Macromolecular Structure of a Commercial Humic Acid Sample

“…Because of these properties, HA have been proposed as an adsorbent in wastewater purification plants [5][6][7]. On the other hand, HA cannot be removed from water by using conventional oxidation processes; however, several approaches are effective for treating recalcitrant compounds, such as adsorption [8,9] and advanced oxidation processes [10,11].…”