Bone Char and Ozone In A Heterogeneous Catalytic Ozonation Process To Degrade Humic Acids in Aqueous Solutions

Catalytic ozonation has recently been used as a new means of contaminant removal from water and wastewater. In this study, bone char (BC) prepared under laboratory conditions was used to catalyze the ozonation of humic substances (HS) from aqueous solutions. The catalytic effect of bone char and the relevant parameters of this ozonation process were investigated. The experimental results show that catalytic ozonation with BC (COBC) was most effective at pH 8 with a 10-min reaction time and a BC dosage of 2 g. Compared to the sole ozonation process (SOP), the levels of UY254 absorbance and total organic carbon (TOC) removal achieved were 97.5% and 45%, respectively. In order to better illustrate the effects of pH, the degradation rate kinetics were investigated. Tert-butanol alcohol (TBA) was used a radical scavenger. The results indicate that HS degraded mainly by radical oxidation. In addition, the applicability of COBC to the degradation and mineralization of HS was assessed by comparison with different processes: O-3 /H2O2, H2O2 and O3 /H2O2 /BC.