Abstract:
This study was carried out to investigate the PCP degradation by ozone at pH 7. The experiments were conducted in the bench scale reactor at room temperature. The relationship between ozone concentration in the gas phase and dissolved ozone in the liquid phase has been investigated and found to have linear relationship; hence, the ozone concentration in the gas phase was used in the kinetics equation. The kinetics of PCP ozonation in terms of the gaseous O3 and dissolved PCP concentrations were determined. The degradation of PCP within the studied range is the first-order reaction with respect to gaseous ozone concentration, zero-order reaction with respect to PCP concentration and; hence, the overall reaction is first order. The reaction rate constant was estimated to be 1.123 min-1. Major by-products which had been detected were 2,3,4,6 and 2,3,5,6 tetrachlorophenols and phenol. The presence of intermediates did not have any significant impacts on PCP degradation which implies that there was no competition between PCP and intermediates for ozone consumption.