Abstract:
In this study, photo-Fenton process was used to explore the possibility of treating medical wastewater containing various organic pollutants such as acetone, alcohol, chloroform, and organic acids. The real wastewater was taken fiom Bangpakok3 HospitaI for all investigated experiments. The initial COD BOD and TOC were 1350, 450 and 1050 mgA, respectively. The treatment efficiencies of the photo-Fenton processes were mainly calculated from the residual COD with the additional data from anaIysis of BOD and TOC in the efnuent. The results showed that the optimum pH for the degradation of medical wastewater was pH 3 . It was also found that hydrogen peroxide and ferrous ions concentration exerted the significant effect on degradation efficiency. The proper mounts of both chemical were needed to reach the highest performance. In this study the highest percentage removal was 75 percent with the 5400 mgfl of hydrogen peroxide and 135 mgA of ferrous ion. Results from this research also indicated that photo-Fenton can reduce the toxicity of medical wastewater and enhance the biodegrade ability by increasing the ratio of BOD,/COD to a higher vaIue comparing to that form original wastewater. This finding suggested that photo-Fenton process is an appropriate method as the pretreatment step for hospital wastewater.