Removal of pharmaceuticals by advanced treatment methods

Abstract

The removal of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) remains a big challenge in water treatment in terms of public health. The aim of the study was evaluating the performance of nano TiO2, ozone, and UV system for removal of EDCs. In this study, the efficiency of the nano TiO2 to degrade target EDCs under catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation was examined at different operational conditions. The maximum removal of target pollutant was obtained with pH 6.8; ozone concentration 10 mg/L; catalyst dosage 0.050 g/L and the duration time of the photocatalytic performances was 10 min showing the most treatment conditions respectively. In addition, the surface reaction mechanism of endocrine disrupting compound removal by catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation was investigated. The results showed that the catalyst can significantly enhance the removal of target compound. The 99.0%, 88.3% and 51.8% removal rates were obtained at photocatalytic ozonation, catalytic ozonation and sole ozonation, respectively. These results indicated that the Ozone/TiO2/UV process was favorable for engineering applications for removal of endocrine disrupting compounds such as steroid hormone and likely similar micro pollutants.