Destruction of endocrine disruptor chemicals (resorcinol) using UV-C radiation

• Main Author: Su, Thiri Tun
• Other Authors: Tuti Mariana Lim
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering::Water treatment
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/74490
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The presence of Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDCs) in waste water treatment system is a worrying issue as EDCs are potentially hazardous to the environment and human health. Research has shown that conventional water treatment processes were ineffective in removing most EDCs and in some cases, produced intermediate products that are more toxic than the parent compound. Therefore, multiple techniques using direct photolysis and photocatalytic UV-based treatments have been extensively used to remove the presence of EDCs in water bodies. In this study, the efficiency of using Ultraviolet (UV)-C radiation (direct photolysis) to degrade and mineralize EDC resorcinol was investigated for potential treatment of water spiked with resorcinol. The degradation and mineralization of resorcinol was studied using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analysis. Experiments using varying levels of pH (4, 6, 9), concentration of resorcinol (5mg/L, 10mg/L, 15mg/L, 20mg/L, 30mg/L, 40mg/L) and UV intensity (5W, 7W) were conducted to determine the most optimal condition for resorcinol destruction. The rates of degradation and mineralization of resorcinol was calculated and it was found that UV is ineffective in mineralization of resorcinol, and contributes only around 20% effective in resorcinol degradation regardless of concentration. At pH 9, the extent of resorcinol degradation increased to 54% but there was still no mineralization of resorcinol. A change in UV intensity also did not affect the extent of degradation and mineralization of resorcinol. Therefore, the degradation of resorcinol was found to be most dependent on pH.