Abstract

Degradation of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; in the mmol/l range) at pH 3 was studied by the ferrioxalate/H2O2 process under solar irradiation. A rapid total organic carbon (TOC) removal was attained in all cases, reaching almost 100% after 1 h solar exposure under the best conditions. In order to attain a high TOC removal yield, the pH must be rigorously controlled. The reaction rate increased with H2O2 concentration; but its effect was not very marked. The final extent of degradation was found to decrease with higher ferrioxalate concentrations, probably by competition of oxalate with EDTA or its degradation products. In the absence of oxalate, EDTA could also be degraded to a reasonably good extent, with a TOC removal only slightly lower than when using ferrioxalate, which constitutes a good advantage from the economical point of view. The intensity of solar light was found to be a very important factor to improve the reaction. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.