Removal of chemical oxygen demand from tannery wastewater by fenton’s reagent

Abstract

The characterization of the tannery wastewater by analysis of a certain number of physico-chemical parameters has shown an important organic pollutant load, particularly expressed by chemical and biological oxygen demand (5280 mg/L for COD and 1300 mg/L for BOD).The aim of this work is to remove of COD from tannery wastewater by using one of the most efficient advanced wastewater treatment, the Fenton reaction. The parameters influencing the COD removal, namely hydrogen peroxide concentration, ferrous ions concentration and pH have been studied. The effectiveness of this process, defined as a reduction of COD was 87% using a concentration of 2x10-3 mol/L of Fe+2and 10-2 mol/L of H2O2. The optimal pH is 3.5.So, it has been proved that the Fenton process can be a feasible technique for the treatment of tannery wastewater as a preliminary stage preceding its further biological treatment.