Abstract
Recently, there is an increasing demand for water due to rapid industrialization and a growing human population. There is a too shortage of available water sources; thus, one option for increasing existing resources is the treatment and reuse of wastewaters. Vinasse poses a long-term risk to public health because of its toxic nature and a huge amount. This study investigates a new prospect of a combination of persulfate (PS)/ peroxymonosulfate (PMS) (activated by Ion (II)) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for reducing total organic carbon (TOC) from vinasse and reuse of treated vinasse as well. Behaviors of PS/Fe(II)/ H2O2 and PMS/ Fe(II)/ H2O2 on total organic carbon (TOC) removal are explored by evaluating various effects, including H2O2 dosage, Fe (II) dosage, pH and reaction time. Hydrogen peroxide was used as an oxidation agent to improve the degradation of the organic matter of vinasse. The addition of H2O2 to PS/ Fe (II) or PMS/ Fe (II) generates highly oxidizing radicals, which enhanced, significantly, the removal of TOC. Both of PS/ Fe (II)/ H2O2 and PMS/ Fe (II)/ H2O2 systems favored neutral pH in removing the organic matter, and they were very active in the first 5 minutes. At the optimum conditions, about 86 % and 83% of TOC removal were achieved by PS/ Fe (II)/ H2O2 and PMS/ Fe (II)/ H2O2, respectively. Therefore, a combination of PS/PMS activated by Fe (II) with H2O2 can be considered as a capable technique for sugarcane vinasse treatment and allowing to reuse the effluents in many applications.