Degradation of phenol using mill scale as a Fenton‐type catalyst

• Published in: Water and environment journal : WEJ Vol. 34; no. S1; pp. 183 - 191
• Main Authors: Salazar‐Arias, Ángela M., Giraldo‐Gómez, Gloria I., Sanabria‐González, Nancy R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-12-2020
• Subjects: By products; Carbon dioxide; catalyst; Catalysts; Conversion; Fenton process; Hot rolling; Iron and steel industry; mill scale; Mineralization; Organic carbon; Oxidation; Oxidation tests; phenol; Phenols; Scale (corrosion); Steel; Steel industry; Total organic carbon; Waste materials
• ISSN: 1747-6585; 1747-6593
• DOI: 10.1111/wej.12516

The oxidation of phenol using mill scale (waste material produced during the hot rolling of steel) as iron source in a type Fenton process was investigated in this work. The mill scale was characterized by XRF, FT‐IR, XRD and SEM. The oxidation tests were carried at 25°C and atmospheric pressure, controlling the pH to 3.7. The phenol conversion and total organic carbon (TOC) removal as a function of catalyst loading (300–1000 mg/L) and phenol concentration (47 and 100 mg/L) were evaluated. The mill scale achieved high conversion of phenol (between 60.8 ± 2.2 and 94.5 ± 2.5%) and mineralization to CO2 (between 38.9 ± 1.2 and 55.6 ± 2.5%) after 4‐h reaction. The mill scale showed a good catalytic performance, even after three cycles of reaction. Therefore, utilizing mill scale as a catalyst of the Fenton process is an alternative to the use of waste in the steel industry.