Photocatalytic mineralization of wastewater polluted with commercial dicloxacillin in a pilot-scale solar CPC reactor

Abstract

In  this  work,  the  mineralization  of  a  wastewater  sample  polluted  with  commercial  dicloxacillin  by  TiO2-based solar heterogeneous photocatalysis was studied. The experimental tests were carried out in a compound parabolic collector  (CPC)  type  reactor  located  at  theSolar  Photocatalytic  Laboratory  of  the  Universidad  del  Valle  (Cali,  Colombia). A Taguchi experimental design was used for evaluating the effects of the initial pH of the solution and the  catalyst  concentration  on  the  photocatalytic  mineralization  of  the  polluted  sample.  The  results  exhibited  that  total organic carbon (TOC) removal up to 45% could be achieved by TiO2-based solar photocatalysis. According to  the  signal-to-noise  ratios  obtained  from  the  Taguchi  experimental  design,  the  wastewater  mineralization  was  favored at initial pH of 5 and TiO2 concentration of 0.3 g/l.