Photodegradation of mefenamic acid from wastewater in a continuous flow solar falling film reactor

• Published in: Desalination and water treatment 2021-01, Vol.210, p.22-30
• Main Authors: Shnain, Zainab Yousif, Abid, Mohammad Fadhil, Sukkar, Khalid A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Falling film reactor; Pharmaceuticals; Photocatalysis; Solar irradiation; Wastewater
• ISSN: 1944-3986; 1944-3986
• DOI: 10.5004/dwt.2021.26581

The degradation of mefenamic acid (MFA) in synthetic wastewater was studied utilizing homemade Cu-doped TiO2 nanoparticles in a solar-irradiated falling film reactor. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses were applied to identify the homemade Cu-doped TiO2 nanocatalyst. Adsorption experiments revealed that the Langmuir isotherm model well-described the experimental data. Various operating parameters, such as loadings of MFA (10–75 mg L–1), doped catalyst (300–800 mg L–1), H2O2 (300–800 mg L–1), synthetic waste-water flow rate (1–3 L min–1), and wastewater pH (3–10), have been investigated for their effects on MFA degradation. A degradation of MFA of 97.5% was achieved within 90 min of the operation period by operating at pH = 10, CCU–TiO = 400 mg L–1, CH O = 400 mg L–1, and Qsw = 1.0 L min–1. The experimental results revealed that an enhancement of 50.09% for degradation of MFA was attained by the 2wt.% Cu-doped TiO2 higher than pure TiO2.