Treatment of toxic pollutants of purified terephthalic acid waste water: A review

Abstract This study provides the overview of various biological and physiochemical technologies used for treatment of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater. Electrocoagulation (EC) technology is effective and mostly used technology in the area of wastewater treatment therefore this study also provide some fundamental of electrocoagulation (EC) process i.e. scope, process steps, reaction mechanisms, design parameters, operating parameters etc. It was found that Terephthalic acid (TA), benzoic acid (BA) and p-toulic acid (p-TA) are the major pollutants of PTA wastewater and contributed higher chemical oxygen demand (COD). Therefore, various studies reported degradation of these pollutants using synthetic and industrial wastewater. This study provides the review of these pollutants whether they were treated in single and multicomponent mixture. This study also illustrates these pollutants based on their solubility, importance, harmful effects, market scenario and exposure limits etc. Study shows that advanced oxidation processes are the best for treatment of major pollutants of PTA wastewater.