Stéphane Baup

Enhanced sonochemical degradation of bisphenol-A by bicarbonate ions

Sonochemical elimination of organic pollutants can take place through two degradation pathways. Molecules with relatively large Henrys law constants will be incinerated inside the cavitation bubble, while nonvolatile molecules with low Henrys law constants will be oxidised by the OH(*) ejected from the bubble of cavitation. Taking bisphenol-A as a model pollutant, this study points out an alternate degradation route, mediated by bicarbonate ions, which is significant for the elimination of micro-pollutants at concentrations present in natural waters. In this process, OH(*) radicals react with bicarbonate ions to produce the carbonate radical, which, unlike the OH(*) radical, can migrate towards the bulk of the solution and therefore induce the degradation of the micro-pollutants present in the bulk solution. As a consequence, initial degradation rate is increased by a factor 3.2 at low concentration of bisphenol-A (0.022 micromol l(-1)) in presence of bicarbonate in water.

Sonolytic degradation of endocrine disrupting chemical 4-cumylphenol in water

The sonolytic degradation of endocrine disrupting compound 4-cumylphenol (4-CyP) in aqueous solution was investigated. The influence of operating parameters for sonication process such as 4-CyP initial concentration, frequency, power, pH, temperature and saturating gas was examined. The extent of degradation was inversely proportional to the initial substrate concentration. The rate of 4-CyP degradation was frequency dependent. The degradation rate increased proportionally with increasing ultrasonic power from 20 to 100 W and temperature in the range of 20-50°C. The most favorable degradation pH was acidic media. Destruction in the presence of saturating gas follows the order: argon>air>nitrogen. The 4-CyP degradation was inhibited in the presence of nitrogen gas owing to the free radical scavenging effect in vapor phase within the bubbles of cavitation. The ultrasonic degradation of 4-CyP was clearly promoted in the presence of bromide anions and the promoting effect on degradation increased with increasing bromide concentration. At low 4-CyP concentration (0.05 mg L(-1)), bicarbonate ion drastically enhanced the rate of 4-CyP degradation. Experiments conducted using pure and natural water demonstrated that the sonolytic treatment was more efficient in the natural water compared to pure water.

Modeling of ultrasonic degradation of non-volatile organic compounds by Langmuir-type kinetics

Sonochemical degradation of phenol (Ph), 4-isopropylphenol (4-IPP) and Rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solutions was investigated for a large range of initial concentrations in order to analyze the reaction kinetics. The initial rates of substrate degradation and H(2)O(2) formation as a function of initial concentrations were determined. The obtained results show that the degradation rate increases with increasing initial substrate concentration up to a plateau and that the sonolytic destruction occurs mainly through reactions with hydroxyl radicals in the interfacial region of cavitation bubbles. The rate of H(2)O(2) formation decreases with increasing substrate concentration and reaches a minimum, followed by almost constant production rate for higher substrate concentrations. Sonolytic degradation data were analyzed by the models of Okitsu et al. [K. Okitsu, K. Iwasaki, Y. Yobiko, H. Bandow, R. Nishimura, Y. Maeda, Sonochemical degradation of azo dyes in aqueous solution: a new heterogeneous kinetics model taking into account the local concentration OH radicals and azo dyes, Ultrason. Sonochem. 12 (2005) 255-262.] and Seprone et al. [N. Serpone, R. Terzian, H. Hidaka, E. Pelizzetti, Ultrasonic induced dehalogenation and oxidation of 2-, 3-, and 4-chlorophenol in air-equilibrated aqueous media. Similarities with irradiated semiconductor particulates, J. Phys. Chem. 98 (1994) 2634-2640.] developed on the basis of a Langmuir-type mechanism. The five linearized forms of the Okitsu et al.s equation as well as the non-linear curve fitting analysis method were discussed. Results show that it is not appropriate to use the coefficient of determination of the linear regression method for comparing the best-fitting. Among the five linear expressions of the Okitsu et al.s kinetic model, form-2 expression very well represent the degradation data for Ph and 4-IPP. Non-linear curve fitting analysis method was found to be the more appropriate method to determine the model parameters. An excellent representation of the experimental results of sonolytic destruction of RhB was obtained using the Serpone et al.s model. The Serpone et al.s model gives a worse fit for the sonolytic degradation data of Ph and 4-IPP. These results indicate that Ph and 4-IPP undergo degradation predominantly at the bubble/solution interface, whereas RhB undergoes degradation at both bubble/solution interface and in the bulk solution.

Competitive adsorption of phenol and heavy metal ions onto titanium dioxide (Dugussa P25)

Abstract Single-solute adsorption of phenol (chosen as an organic pollutant) and single-solute adsorption of four heavy metal ions (Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Fe(II) chosen as minerals pollutant) onto titanium dioxide (Dugussa P25) nanoparticles in aqueous suspension are studied. Temperature effect is studied for copper and for phenol. Furthermore, competitive adsorption between phenol and each metal cation is also studied. Phenol is dosed via HPLC while heavy metals are quantified by Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometry. The single-solute adsorption results were well fitted by Freundlich, Langmuir, Temkin and Kiselev isotherm models. This study showed that adsorption of the different pollutants onto TiO2 is favourable and adsorption energy was calculated as well. Moreover it is concluded that phenol adsorption and heavy metal cation adsorption do not proceed with the same mechanism. In the case of competitive adsorption in the 4 studied bisolute systems (phenol in presence of each heavy metal ion), the ad...

Coupling between high-frequency ultrasound and solar photo-Fenton at pilot scale for the treatment of organic contaminants: An initial approach

This study aims to evaluate the performance of a novel pilot-scale coupled system consisting of a high frequency ultrasonic reactor (400kHz) and a compound parabolic collector (CPC). The benefits of the concurrent application of ultrasound and the photo-Fenton process were studied in regard to the degradation behavior of a series of organic pollutants. Three compounds (phenol, bisphenol A and diuron) with different physicochemical properties have been chosen in order to identify possible synergistic effects and to obtain a better estimate of the general feasibility of such a system at field scale (10L). Bisphenol A and diuron were specifically chosen due to their high hydrophobicity, and thus their assumed higher affinity towards the cavitation bubble. Experiments were conducted under ultrasonic, photo-Fenton and combined treatments. Enhanced degradation kinetics were observed during the coupled treatment and synergy factors clearly in excess of 1 have been calculated for phenol as well as for saturated solutions of bisphenol A and diuron. Although the relatively high cost of ultrasound compared to photo-Fenton still presents a significant challenge towards mainstream industrial application, the observed behavior suggests that its prudent use has the potential to significantly benefit the photo-Fenton process, via the decrease of both treatment time and H2O2 consumption.

A new way to apply ultrasound in cross-flow ultrafiltration: Application to colloidal suspensions

A new coupling of ultrasound device with membrane process has been developed in order to enhance cross-flow ultrafiltration of colloidal suspensions usually involved in several industrial applications included bio and agro industries, water and sludge treatment. In order to reduce mass transfer resistances induced by fouling and concentration polarization, which both are main limitations in membrane separation process continuous ultrasound is applied with the help of a vibrating blade (20 kHz) located in the feed channel all over the membrane surface (8mm between membrane surface and the blade). Hydrodynamic aspects were also taking into account by the control of the rectangular geometry of the feed channel. Three colloidal suspensions with different kinds of colloidal interaction (attractive, repulsive) were chosen to evaluate the effect of their physico-chemical properties on the filtration. For a 90 W power (20.5 W cm(-2)) and a continuous flow rate, permeation fluxes are increased for each studied colloidal suspension, without damaging the membrane. The results show that the flux increase depends on the initial structural properties of filtered dispersion in terms of colloidal interaction and spatial organizations. For instance, a Montmorillonite Wyoming-Na clay suspension was filtered at 1.5 × 10(5)Pa transmembrane pressure. Its permeation flux is increased by a factor 7.1, from 13.6 L m(-2)h(-1) without ultrasound to 97 L m(-2)h(-1) with ultrasound.

Effect of Mineral and Organic Matrices on Sonochemical Degradation of 4-Isopropylphenol at Low Concentrations

The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of mineral and organic matrices on the sonochemical degradation of 4-isopropylphenol (4-IPP), an endocrine disrupting chemical found in water. Bicarbonate ions as mineral matrix and sucrose as organic competitor were evaluated with respect to their effect on sonochemical degradation rates. At low 4-IPP concentration, the sonolytic degradation was clearly improved in the presence of bicarbonate involving the formation of the carbonate radical resulting from the reaction of bicarbonate with hydroxyl radical. In the presence of large excess of sucrose, the sonochemical degradation of 4-IPP at low concentration was not affected.