Continuous photocatalytic set-up assisted with nano TiO2 plate for tannery wastewater treatment

A novel photocatalytic continuous system has been proposed for the treatment of tannery waste water, which has high levels of environmental pollutants. The purification process was performed by passing wastewater on a titanium dioxide (TiO2)-coated surface, which is continuously activated by irradiation of ultraviolet light. To improve the yield of the process, ferric chloride (FeCl3) was used as a coagulation agent. The organic and inorganic compounds, as well as the microorganisms in the tannery wastewater media, were degraded through a photocatalytic process. The results revealed that total dissolved solids and total suspended solids contents were significantly decreased from 8,450 and 8,990 mg·L−1 to 4,032 and 4,127 mg·L−1, respectively. Furthermore, the chemical oxygen demand content of the sample was reduced from 370 to 50 mg·L−1 after the addition of 100 mL of FeCl3 and 4 h of treatment. The same results were observed for the elimination of sulfate and chromium ions, which led to a decline in electrical conductivity. This suggests that introducing 100 mL of FeCl3 as the coagulation agent and continuous treatment with photocatalityc set-up could be considered as an effective method for the purification of tannery wastewaters. HIGHLIGHTS Continuous set-up fabricated for tannery wastewater treatment using photocatalytic reactions.; TiO2 photocatalyst activated by UV light for improvement of purification yield.; FeCl3, as coagulation agent, facilitated treatment by removing total dissolved solids.; Toxic ions and microorganisms were eliminated in this method.