RESUMEN
RESUMO Considerado um poluente prioritário de reconhecida toxicidade e recalcitrância, o 2,4-dinitrofenol (2,4-DNF) presente em águas residuárias dificulta tratamentos convencionais, especialmente os de princípio biológico, como lagoas aeradas e sistema de lodos ativados. Em função de sua potencialidade de transformar a estrutura de poluentes em elementos de capacidade poluidora reduzida, os processos oxidativos avançados (POAs) representam atualmente uma alternativa para o tratamento de efluentes contaminados com compostos dessa natureza. A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo realizar estudos de degradação de 2,4-DNF em solução aquosa por meio de processos de oxidação avançada do tipo Fenton utilizando uma fonte não convencional de ferro na forma de um resíduo siderúrgico (carepa de aço). A condução de um delineamento experimental fundamentado em planejamento fatorial de experimentos revelou que as variáveis quantidade de peróxido de hidrogênio e de carepa influenciaram significativamente a degradação de 2,4-DNF, proporcionando, em condições otimizadas (20 g de carepa, 0,5 mL de H2O2 em pH 3), elevada eficiência na degradação tanto do composto modelo quanto de seus intermediários reacionais, tendo reduzido também a toxicidade aguda medida na forma de inibição de crescimento de E. coli. Ensaios adicionais sugeriram que os mecanismos reacionais pelos quais ocorre a degradação do 2,4-DNF são mediados tanto pela superfície das partículas de carepa quanto pelo ferro lixiviado, caracterizando o processo como uma combinação de oxidação homogênea e heterogênea. Finalmente, ensaios de reusabilidade e operação em reator de fluxo contínuo sugeriram significativa potencialidade do sistema carepa/H2O2.
ABSTRACT Considered a priority pollutant of recognized toxicity and recalcitrance, 2.4-dinitrophenol (2.4-DNP) present in wastewater hinders conventional treatments such as filtration, chemical coagulation, activated sludge system and activated carbon adsorption. Due to the potential of advanced oxidation processes (AOP) to transform the structure of pollutants into elements of reduced pollutant capacity, they presently represent an alternative for the treatment of effluents contaminated with these compounds. The present research aimed to study the degradation of 2.4-DNP in aqueous solution through advanced Fenton-type oxidation processes, using an unconventional source of iron in the form of a steel residue (steel waste). The conduction of an experimental design based on the factorial planning of experiments revealed that the variables hydrogen peroxide quantity and scale significantly influenced 2.4-DNF degradation, providing, under optimized conditions (20 g of steel waste, 0.5 mL of H2O2 at pH 3) high degradation efficiency of both the model compound and its reaction intermediates, as well as reducing acute toxicity, measured as E. coli growth inhibition. Further trials have suggested that the reaction mechanisms by which 2.4-DNF degradation occurs are mediated by both the surface of steel waste particles and the leached iron, characterizing the process as a combination of homogeneous and heterogeneous oxidation. Finally, reusability and continuous flow reactor operation tests suggested the significant potential of the steel waste/ H2O2 system.
RESUMEN
The current study aims to characterize and evaluate the photocatalytic treatability of the "red water" effluent from a Brazilian TNT production industry. Analyses were performed using physical, chemical, spectroscopic and chromatographic assays, which demonstrated that the effluent presented a significant pollution potential, mainly due to COD, BOD, solids and to the high concentration of nitroaromatic compounds such as 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, 1-methyl-2,4-dinitrobenzene, 2-methyl-1,3-dinitrobenzene, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene-3,5-dinitro-p-toluidine and 2-methyl-3,5-dinitro-benzoamine. By a modified sol-gel and a dip-coating technique, it was possible to obtain a TiO2 film on borosilicate glass substrate which functional composition and microstructure were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The evaluation of the photocatalytic treatability using borosilicate-glass-TiO2 demonstrated high degradation efficiency. In this context, a reduction of 32 and 100% for COD and nitroaromatic compounds, respectively, was observed. Although the proposed photocatalytic process has found difficulties in reducing the content of organic matter and effluent color in the red water, its potential for degrading refractory chemical compounds such as the nitroaromatic ones enables it to be used as tertiary treatment.