Application of TiO2 solar photocatalysis as tertiary treatment for wastewater disinfection

Abstract

Chlorination processes have been a method commonly used for wastewater disinfection. However, new methods without the formation of disinfection by-products have been recently investigated by researchers. Photocatalytic processes based on utilization of solar energy along with the addition of a catalyst are rapidly expanding technologies for wastewater treatment. During the last few years, these processes have demonstrated great potential in elimination of bacteria of low and high concentrations and have found versatile applications in treating contaminants of different wastewater types. One of the catalysts that has proved to be one of the most successful ones is TiO2. In this project the process of TiO2 heterogeneous photocatalysis was investigated as the tertiary method for water disinfection. The experimental work was aimed to examine at which parameters and conditions the bacterial and organic matter degradation will occur more effectively within a shorter period of time. With the data obtained in this work it can be estimated that the results of photocatalytic reactions were dependent not only on the experimental conditions, such as volume, light flux, and addition of TiO2 catalyst, but also on the initial composition of the effluent used in reactions.