34    AN ADVANCED OXIDATION PROCESS USING HYDROGEN
PEROXIDE AND HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSTS
M. Brett Borup, Assistant Professor
Brigham Young University
Department of Civil Engineering
Provo, Utah 84602
Craig T. Ashcroft, Project Engineer
John Carollo Engineers
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
INTRODUCTION
The need to develop treatment methods for refractory organic compounds has led to a growing
interest in advanced oxidation processes. Advanced oxidation processes have been defined as those
processes which generate hydroxyl radicals in sufficient quantity to affect water treatment. Hydroxyl
radicals are highly reactive, non-selective, and exhibit consistently high reaction rates with a broad
range of organic compounds, including many compounds which are otherwise refractory. Several
advanced oxidation processes have previously been studied which take advantage of these characteristics, including; Fenton's reagent,' the combination of hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light,2 ozone
and UV light,1 and hydrogen peroxide and ozone.4 Each of these processes have been found to
successfully oxidize refractory organic compounds which are not oxidized by conventional oxidants or
microorganisms.
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of tests that were conducted to evaluate the
effectiveness of using hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst for refractory
organic oxidation. In this advanced oxidation process hydroxyl radicals are generated as hydrogen
peroxide is decomposed upon contact with the catalyst. Two types of catalysts were used in these tests,
granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange resin loaded with iron. This type of process would
not require the large energy inputs of UV based processes, nor would it require the continuous
addition of a second chemical reagent.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
Several different tests were conducted to investigate Ihe properties of this new process. First, a
series of batch tests were conducted to determine the ability of seven different types of granular
activated carbon to decompose hydrogen peroxide. One gram of carbon was added to one liter of a
solution of hydrogen peroxide and research grade deionized water. Samples were withdrawn from
rapidly mixed beakers with time and the hydrogen peroxide concentrations were determined immediately using the titanium(IV) chloride method. The seven carbons tested are described in Table 1. The
ash content, the specific surface area, and the quantity of several elements present in each carbon was
Table I.    Properties of GAC Used
Surface Area,
Carbon
Manufacturer
Source Material
m2/g
Filtrasorb 300
Calgon
Bituminous Coal
950-1050
PCB
Calgon
Coconut Shell
1150-1250
CO 401
Westates Carbon
Bituminous Coal
900-1150
KP401
Westates carbon
Bituminous Coal
950-1075
Granular Darco
American Norit
Lignite
625
Darco CG
American Norit
Lignite
625
Nuchar WV-B
Westvaco
Bituminous Coal
1422
47th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, 1992 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
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