Oxidative Degradation of Phenol containing Wastewater using Fenton Reagent, Permanganate and Ultraviolet Radiation

Phenol containing wastewaters are generated by numerous industrial units including integrated steel mills, textile mills, plastic production, etc. The present work is targeted to explore the viable oxidation techniques for degradation of phenolic wastewater. Three modes of treatment have been adopted in this study, namely, sole oxidant mode using Fenton reagent or permanganate, UV-assisted oxidation and two consequent chemical oxidation steps. Results indicated the superiority of fenton reagent over KMnO4 oxidation in the sole oxidant mode. On the other hand, UV-assisted KMnO4 oxidation enables almost complete COD reduction. Dual chemical oxidation mode employing KMnO4 oxidation followed by Fenton reagent is also an efficient oxidative degradation system