Study of the process fundamentals and determination of the reactivity of chlorine radicals toward the most common water chemical pollutants using Laser Flash Photolysis.

J. DURANTINI; M. DECAN; J. C. SCAIANO

2015-01-05/2015-07-31

Química

Salud humana

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is very effective at the photolysis of active chlorine (Cl2) commonly used in water disinfection, with the generation of highly oxidizing reactive species such as hydroxyl and chlorine radicals. These radicals react very fast with a wide range of water chemical pollutants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, volatile organic solvents, algal toxins, and initiate their degradation processes. The UV/Cl2 process is more cost-effective than the UV/H2O2 process, which is currently applied to water remediation from chemical micropollutants. Its implementation to water treatment presents also the advantage that the water treatment plants use chlorine for the final disinfection of water distributed to people, thus, no other oxidant (e.g., H2O2) would be purchased and stored on site. The process is very little studied and conflicting scientific information is reported in the published literature. This research will investigate the process fundamentals and will determine the reactivity of chlorine radicals toward the most common water chemical pollutants. Specific methods using laser flash photolysis will be developed to investigate these reactions and reliable data will be generated. The parameters determined through this research will be used with kinetic models to determine the UV equipment needed and the performance of the UV systems in treating the micropollutants in contaminated water. The research is conducted in support of Trojan Technologies´ new technology development for drinking water treatment.