Find in Library

Humic substances have been known as precursors to disinfection by-products. Because conventional treatment processes cannot meet disinfection by-product standards, novel methods have been increasingly applied for the removal of disinfection by-products precursors. The UV/TiO2 process is one of the advanced oxidation processes using the photocatalytic technology. The most important advantages of this process are its stability and high efficiency removal. The present study aims to investigate the effect of UV/TiO2 photo-catalytic technology on removal of humic substances. The study was conducted in a lab-scale batch photo-catalytic reactor using the interval experimental method. The UV irradiation source was a low pressure mercury vapor lamp 55w that was axially centered and was immersed in a humic acids solution within a stainless steel tubular 2.8 L reaction volume. Each of the samples taken from the UV/TiO2 process and other processes studied were analyzed for their dissolved organic carbon, UV absorbance at 254nm, and specific UV254 absorbance. The results indicated the high efficiency of the UV/TiO2 photo-catalytic process (TiO2=0.1 g/L and pH=5), compared to other processes, for humic substances removal from water sources. The process was also found to be capable of decreasing the initial dissolved organic carbon from 5 to 0.394 mg/L. The Specific UV254 Absorbance of 2.79 L/mg.m was attained after 1.5 hr. under photo-catalytic first order reaction (k= 0.0267 min-1). It may be concluded that the UV/TiO2 process can provide desirable drinking water quality in terms of humic substance content.