Sonocatalytic removal of ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole in the presence of different fly ash sources

Yasir A J Al-Hamadani; Chang Min Park; Lateef N Assi; Kyoung Hoon Chu; Shamia Hoque; Min Jang; Yeomin Yoon; Paul Ziehl

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.05.003

Sonocatalytic removal of ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole in the presence of different fly ash sources

Ultrason Sonochem. 2017 Nov:39:354-362. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.05.003. Epub 2017 May 3.

Authors

Yasir A J Al-Hamadani¹, Chang Min Park¹, Lateef N Assi¹, Kyoung Hoon Chu¹, Shamia Hoque¹, Min Jang², Yeomin Yoon³, Paul Ziehl¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
² Department of Environmental Engineering, Kwangwoon University, 20 Kwangwoon-ro, Nowon-Gu, Seoul 01897, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: yoony@cec.sc.edu.

PMID: 28732956
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.05.003

Abstract

We examined the feasibility of using two types of fly ash (an industrial waste from thermal power plants) as a low-cost catalyst to enhance the ultrasonic (US) degradation of ibuprofen (IBP) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Two fly ashes, Belews Creek fly ash (BFA), from a power station in North Carolina, and Wateree Station fly ash (WFA), from a power station in South Carolina, were used. The results showed that >99% removal of IBP and SMX was achieved within 30 and 60min of sonication, respectively, at 580kHz and pH 3.5. Furthermore, the removal of IBP and SMX achieved, in terms of frequency, was in the order 580kHz>1000kHz>28kHz, and in terms of pH, was in the order of pH 3.5>pH 7>pH 9.5. WFA showed significant enhancement in the removal of IBP and SMX, which reached >99% removal within 20 and 50min, respectively, at 580kHz and pH 3.5. This was presumably because WFA contains more silicon dioxide than BFA, which can enhance the formation of OH radicals during sonication. Additionally, WFA has finer particles than BFA, which can increase the adsorption capacity in removing IBP and SMX. The sonocatalytic degradation of IBP and SMX fitted pseudo first-order rate kinetics and the synergistic indices of all the reactions were determined to compare the efficiency of the fly ashes. Overall, the findings have showed that WFA combined with US has potential for treating organic pollutants, such as IBP and SMX, in water and wastewater.

Keywords: Fly ash; Ibuprofen; Sonocatalytical degradation; Sulfamethoxazole; Water treatment.