Kinetics and optimization of the decoloration of dyeing wastewater by a schorl-catalyzed Fenton-like reaction

The kinetics and optimization of the decoloration of an active commercial dye, argazol blue BFBR (ABB), by a heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction catalyzed by natural schorl were investigated in this study. The kinetic investigations revealed that the first-order kinetic model was more favorable to describe the decoloration of ABB under different reaction conditions than the second-order and Behnajady-Modirshahla-Ghanbery models. The relationship between the reaction rate constant k and reaction temperature T followed the Arrhenius Equation, with an apparent activation energy Ea of 51.31 kJ times mol super(-1). The central composite design under the response surface methodology was employed for the experimental design and optimization of the ABB decoloration process. The significance of a second order polynomial model for predicting the optimal values of ABB decoloration was evaluated by the analysis of variance and 3D response surface plots for the interactions between the two variables were constructed. Then, the optimum conditions were determined.