The photocatalytic degradation of reactive black 5 using TiO2/UV in an annular photoreactor

The textile effluent is a major industrial polluter because it is highly colored, containing about 15% unfixed dyes as well as high levels of salts that can potentially be discharged into the environment. Photocatalytic oxidation using an thin gap annular UV reactor with TiO2 was used to break down the colour of a synthetic effluent ranging up to 400 ppm in dye concentration of Reactive Black 5 and up to 80 g/L in NaCl. Results show that the reaction kinetics was dominated by the TiO2 loading, the initial dye concentration, and the dissolved oxygen concentration; with the other parameters showing less significant effects. High rates of decolorization were found, with a linear fit to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood equation yielding a reaction rate constant (k) of 2.45 ppm/min, and an adsorption equilibrium constant (K) of 0.048 ppm(-1) based on color removal. The presence of the combination of high dissolved oxygen (15 ppm) and sodium chloride (up to 80 g/L) was found to enhance the decolorization and mineralization rates of the reactive dye. However, pH was found to not significantly affect the degradation rate. Since textile effluent is strongly alkaline, this result is significant, as no solution neutralisation is required and direct treatment of the effluent is possible.