Multiphase ozonolysis of organics in wastewater by a novel membrane reactor

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Abstract
Conventional ozonation of recalcitrant organic compounds in wastewater suffers from low transfer rate of ozone into water. The low transfer rate can be enhanced by adding an inert fluorocarbon (FC) liquid immiscible with water but having a much higher solubility for ozone. A novel membrane reactor was studied for the destruction of organic pollutants by using PC liquid simultaneously as a reaction medium and a liquid membrane. The membrane reactor consisted of two sets of microporous and/or non‐porous hollow‐fiber membranes well‐mixed in a cylindrical shell filled with the inert FC liquid. Wastewater was allowed to flow through the lumen of one set of microporous fibers; O3‐containing gas flowed through the bore of the other set. Oxidative degradation products get partitioned back into the two mobile phases. Degradation of such pollutants as phenol, acrylonitrile, nitrobenzene, trichloroethylene, and toluene in such a reactor is presented. The kinetics of degradation of each pollutant in the two‐phase (aqueous‐ FC) system were studied using batch and semibatch experiments. Simulation results based on a first‐order model to predict the behavior of pollutant degradation in such a membrane reactor are compared with experimental data.