DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, cilt.202, ss.105-111, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
Olive oil production in Turkey is quite common. A large volume of untreated olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) is being stored in evaporation rafts. Since there are high amounts of organic load, dark color, and phenolic compounds in OMW, an effective treatment process should be implemented. In this work, an advanced oxidation process (photo-Fenton) operating in a batch reactor was used to treat OMW. For this reason, the effects of some operating parameters such as the initial oxidant and catalyst concentrations and pH of water on total organic carbon (TOC) and color removals were investigated using the central composite experimental design method. The samples were analyzed at different times during the experiments to determine water quality parameters. Increasing oxidant concentrations did not imply a noticeable rise in the final removal percentages. On the contrary, the removal efficiencies for both color and TOC were decreased by increasing catalyst concentration. Optimum color and TOC removal efficiencies were achieved as 95% and 65% respectively, with the addition of 4,585 mg L-1 H2O2, 255 mg L-1 Fe(II), and at pH 4.7 after 90 min of oxidation under UV-C lights.