Effectiveness of a 3-liter reactor with UV and persulfate in degrading chloramphenicol in water

Abstract The effectiveness of a 3-liter reactor with UV and persulfate (PS) in the degradation of chloramphenicol (CAP) in water was investigated. The UV-254 nm/PS process degraded CAP much more efficiently than the UV-254 nm process or the PS process alone. The dependences of the degradation of CAP on the UV wavelength, PS dosage, and addition of anions in the UV/PS process were examined. The UV-254 nm/PS process was much more effective than the UV-365 nm/PS process in degrading CAP. In the UV-254 nm/PS process, the efficiency and rate of degradation of CAP increased with the PS dosage from 1 to 10 mM. However, at a PS dosage of 20 mM, the degradation of CAP was lower. Hence, the UV-254 nm/PS process was most effective with a PS dosage of 10 mM. In the UV/PS process, the degradation of CAP exhibited a pseudo-first-order kinetic model. In the UV-254 nm/PS process, the addition of anions (Cl−, NO3−, and SO42−) limited the degradation of CAP in the order Cl−>NO3−>SO42−. In the absence of anions, the UV-254 nm/PS process with an initial CAP concentration of 10 mg/L and a PS dosage of 10 mM provided complete degradation of CAP in 4 min and 94% mineralization of CAP in 10 min. Therefore, a 3-liter reactor with the UV-254 nm/PS process is greatly effective in degrading CAP in water.