Destruction of endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) with UV process

• Main Author: Tann, Yi Kai
• Other Authors: Tuti Mariana Lim
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78547
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The rise in global population over the years have also resulted in the increase need of potable drinking water. At the same time, the effects of globalization have also resulted in large amount of pollutants being released into water sources. There has been a rise in studies to correct such actions through means of water treatment. Advanced oxidation processes have been used to tackle such problems, which includes the use of Ultra Violet light, Ozone as well as Titanium dioxide. However, there are adverse effects in employing such treatment methods, namely the by-products of such treatments and the effectiveness of these methods. In this study, the efficiency of Ultra Violet light method was investigated as well as the effectiveness of combining UV light and ozone. The chemical compound used was Bisphenol A. Experiments using 4 different concentrations of Bisphenol A (2.5 mg/L, 5.0 mg/L, 7.5 mg/L and 10 mg/L) to determine the effectiveness of using Ultra Violet Light as well as combined with ozone. In this study, the combined treatment process were able to achieve complete degradation of the BPA solution, within 10 to 15 minutes of treatment. However, when UV light is solely used for the treatment, only a maximum degradation of 92% is achieved with initial concentration of BPA at 5.0 mg/L. Full mineralization of BPA was unattainable across all variations in this study, with the highest degree of mineralization at 67% when 100 mg/h of ozone is passed through a solution with initial concentration of BPA at 2.5 mg/L and using UV light with intensity of 7 W in a pH 3 solution. In addition, this study investigated the change in pH levels when the BPA solution of different initial pH values are treated with 100 mg/h of ozone, UV light of 7W intensity and initial concentration of BPA at 5.0 mg/L. It was observed that there was a sharp drop in both initial pH values of 7 and 10, whereas the pH value of the BPA solution with initial pH value at 3 remained roughly the same. This could signify the acidity of the by-products that are produced by these treatment methods.