Novel collector design and optimized photo-fenton model for sustainable industry textile wastewater treatment

Heba A El-Gawad; Montaser Y Ghaly; N F El Hussieny; M Abdel Kreem; Y Reda

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-58610-w

Novel collector design and optimized photo-fenton model for sustainable industry textile wastewater treatment

Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 13;14(1):8573. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58610-w.

Authors

Heba A El-Gawad¹, Montaser Y Ghaly^{2

3}, N F El Hussieny⁴, M Abdel Kreem⁴, Y Reda²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Engineering Mathematics and Physics, Higher Institute of Engineering, El-Shorouk Academy, Cairo, Egypt. hebaabdelgawad8@gmail.com.
² National Research Centre, Chemical Engineering and Pilot Plant Department, Canal High Institute of Engineering and Technology, Suez, Egypt.
³ Chemical Engineering Department, Canal High Institute of Engineering and Technology, Suez, Egypt.
⁴ Higher Technological Institute, 10th of Ramadan City, Egypt.

Abstract

Textile industry wastewater containing toxic dyes and high COD poses environmental hazards and requires treatment before discharge. This study addresses the challenge of treating complex textile wastewater using a novel integrated system. The system combines sedimentation, screening, adsorption, and an optimized solar photo-Fenton process to provide a sustainable treatment solution. A novel parabolic collector with a larger absorber tube diameter enhances solar radiation utilization at lower catalyst concentrations. This design is versatile, treating all types of wastewaters, especially those that contain colors, smells, solid and suspended materials, in addition to its importance for the treatment of difficult substances that may be present in industrial and sewage wastewaters that are difficult to dispose of by traditional treatment methods. Multivariate experiments optimized key photo-Fenton parameters (pH, catalyst dose, etc.) achieving significant pollutant removal (85% COD, 82% TOC, complete color) under specific conditions (pH 3, 0.2 g/L Fe(II), 1 mL/L H₂O₂, 40 °C and 100 L/h flow rate after 60 min irradiation). Kinetic modeling revealed second-order reaction kinetics, and multivariate regression analysis led to the development of models predicting treatment efficiency based on process factors. The key scientific contributions are the integrated system design combining conventional and advanced oxidation technologies, novel collector configuration for efficient utilization of solar radiation, comprehensive process optimization through multivariate experiments, kinetic modeling and predictive modeling relating process factors to pollutant degradation. This provides an economical green solution for textile wastewater treatment and reuse along with useful design guidelines. The treatment methodology and modeling approach make valuable additions for sustainable management of textile industry wastewater.

Keywords: Classical processes; Developed oxidation processes; Free hydroxyl radicals; Integrated unit; Solar photo-fenton process; Wastewater treatment.