Degradation Efficiency and Kinetic Study of Phenol by Catalytic Ozonation Process in the Presence of Calcined Scallop Shell

Abstract Introduction: Phenol is amongst the dangerous environmental pollutants, which due to its presence in the industrial effluents, should be removed. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of catalytic ozonation by calcined scallop shell as a catalyst in the removal of phenol Materials and Methods: Scallop shells were collected from the coast of Caspian Sea in Guilan (Iran) Province and used as catalysts after calcination. ozonation and catalytic ozonation experiments were performed in batch reactor. Also, phenol analysis was carried out according to standard method 5530 D. To evaluate the performance of catalytic ozonation in phenol removal, the effects of different parameters such as solution pH, catalyst dosage, initial bentazon concentration, oxygen and nitrogen gas, organic compounds and hydroxyl radical scavenger were examined. Results: It was found that under the optimum conditions: pH= 7, catalyst doses= 0.25 g /L and initial phenol concentration= 200 mg/L the removal efficiency reached 95.55% after 60 min of ozonation. In the presence of nitrogen and oxygen gas and organic compounds, lower bentazon was degraded. Further, the kinetic results showed that first-order model was more desirable for explaining phenol degradation. Also, under the optimum conditions, the electrical energy per order (EEO) was to 49.87 kWh/m3. Conclusion: Due to the low cost, availability and high performance of scallop shell as a catalyst, use of it in catalytic ozonation processes for the removal of different pollutants is suggested. Conflict of interest: non declared