Membrane-Based Ozonation of Organic Compounds

A silicone capillary membrane-based ozonator has been employed to destroy phenol, acrylonitrile, and nitrobenzene in wastewater. A mathematical model has been formulated based on Happel's “Free Surface Model” to describe the simultaneous mass transfer and reaction of ozone and the respective organic pollutant for shell-side wastewater flow in the membrane ozonator. Experimental results for each pollutant show that conversion in the range of 0.8 at aqueous flow rates of 0.1 mL/min are possible for feed pollutant concentrations of around 100 ppm. The model was able to predict the reactor performances well.