The reactor design and comparison of Fenton, electro-Fenton and photoelectro-Fenton processes for mineralization of benzene sulfonic acid (BSA)

Oxalic acid, the major intermediate of aromatic compound degradation, can complex with ferric ions. Meanwhile, a double cathode reactor could increase the current efficiency by 7%, which would translate to greater ferrous production and a higher degradation rate. Although the current efficiency of an electrode distance 5.5 cm device is 19% higher than 3.0 cm, results show that after 2 h of electrolysis the electronic expense using an electrode gap of 5.5 cm is much higher than 3.0 cm. The final TOC removal efficiency was 46, 64 and 72% using the Fenton, electro-Fenton and photoelectron-Fenton processes, respectively.