Removal N-Methyl Pyrrolidone from petrochemical effluent using photo-Fenton process: a case study of Mahshahr port petrochemical unit

N-methylpyrrolidine is a highly potent solvent with toxic and adverse ecological properties that has historically been widely used in the chemical and petrochemical industries. Due to the health and safety، toxicity and environmental effects of effluents containing NMP، these effluents should be pre-treated before biological treatment methods. The aim of this study was to remove N-methylpyrrolidone by photo- Fenton process.

For testing, solutions such as sulfuric acid, iron sulfate 7, oxygenated water, sodium hydroxide and distilled water were added to N-methypyrrolidine compounds in the reactor. Then, the removal process was investigated in two stages: complete mixing and adding solutions.

The results revealed that the Fenton process cannot be used successfully to treat the hypothetical refinery effluent containing NMP. However، the photo-phanton process mineralized and degraded the NMP composition. Increase in 30% H2O2 concentration to the optimal dose of 1 mL led to the highest degradation (94%) and decrease in COD level of solution (42.1%).

It can be concluded that advanced oxidation by photo-phanton reaction can be a promising advanced oxidation technology for decomposition and pre-treatment of NMP-containing wastewaters for further biological treatment.