Photocatalytic Degradation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene in Wastewater Using
a Thin-Film TiO<sub>2</sub> Reactor

Shin, Gi-Bum; Kim, Yeong-Kwan

doi:2008.13.1.28

Environmental Engineering Research 2008;13(1): 28-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2008.13.1.028

Photocatalytic Degradation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene in Wastewater Using a Thin-Film TiO₂ Reactor

Gi-Bum Shin, and Yeong-Kwan Kim^†

Department of Environmental Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chunchon, Kangwondo, 200-701, Korea

Corresponding Author: Yeong-Kwan Kim ,Tel: +82-33-250-6353, Fax: +82-33-254-6357, Email: yeong@kangwon.ac.kr

Received: August 10, 2007; Accepted: January 11, 2008.

ABSTRACT

The photocatalytic treatment of water contaminated with 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was explored in bench-scale experiments in batch mode using a Pyrex tube coated with a thin film of TiO₂ located inside a photoreactor. The reactor was aerated by purging it with compressed air before initiating the photocatalytic reaction. The rate of TNT degradation approximated first-order kinetics. The reaction rate constant decreased as the TNT concentration increased from 25 to 100 mg/L, while the first-order kinetics could be modeled using a Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The addition of the organic reductants methanol and EDTA significantly enhanced the rate of TNT degradation, with optimum results in the presence of 20% methanol by volume. EDTA increased the rate of TNT removal by enhancing the role of the reductants.