Degradation of pesticides in water using solar advanced oxidation processes

Alachlor, atrazine and diuron dissolved in water at 50, 25 and 30 mg/L, respectively were photodegraded by Fe2+/H2O2, Fe3+/H2O2, TiO2 and TiO2/Na2S2O8 treatments driven by solar energy at pilot-plant scale using a compound parabolic collector (CPC) photoreactor. All the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) employed mainly compared the TOC mineralisation rate to evaluate treatment effectiveness. Parent compound disappearance, anion release and oxidant consumption are discussed as a function of treatment time. The use of Fe2+ or Fe3+ showed no influence on the reaction rate under illumination and the reaction using 10 or 55 mg/L of iron was quite similar. TiO2/Na2S2O8 showed a quicker reaction rate than TiO2 and a similar rate compared to photo-Fenton. The main difference found was between TiO2/Na2S2O8 and photo-Fenton, detected during atrazine degradation, where pesticide transformation into cyanuric acid was confirmed only for TiO2/Na2S2O8.