Fate of Phenolic Compounds in Constructed Wetlands Treating Contaminated Water
Phenolic compounds are used in many industrial processes and, thus, are found in various wastewaters of industrial origin. Their main source is the chemical and the petrochemical industry, but they are also present in many agro-industrial wastewaters (e.g
- PDF / 427,851 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 439.37 x 666.14 pts Page_size
- 10 Downloads / 206 Views
Abstract Phenolic compounds are used in many industrial processes and, thus, are found in various wastewaters of industrial origin. Their main source is the chemical and the petrochemical industry, but they are also present in many agroindustrial wastewaters (e.g., olive mill effluents). Phenolic compounds are considered priority pollutants with potential toxic and carcinogenic effects and should be treated and removed from water sources. Advanced oxidation processes have been applied for their removal, but their high operation and maintenance costs, complexity, and energy-intensive nature make these technologies unsustainable and often infeasible. On the other hand, Constructed Wetlands are characterized by lower operational costs, low energy consumption, and green appearance, which make them a sustainable, environmentally friendly treatment method. These systems have also been tested for the treatment of waters containing phenolic compounds. Current experience implies that Constructed Wetlands can effectively remove a series of different phenolic compounds from wastewaters, even at high concentrations. This chapter summarizes the state-of-the-art knowledge regarding the range of applications and the overall effectiveness of phenolic compounds treated in different Constructed Wetland systems. Keywords Constructed wetlands • Phenols • Horizontal flow • Vertical flow • Removal processes • Biodegradation • Sorption • Plant uptake • Efficiency
A.I. Stefanakis (*) Constructed Wetlands Competence Centre, Bauer Nimr LLC, Bauer Resources, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman e-mail: [email protected] M. Thullner Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Leipzig, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 A.A. Ansari et al. (eds.), Phytoremediation, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41811-7_16
311
312
1
A.I. Stefanakis and M. Thullner
Introduction
Phenolic compounds comprise a class of chemical substances ranging from phenol to complex polyphenolic molecules, which are commonly found as pollutants in industrial wastewaters of different origin. These compounds are in use for more than 180 years in various industrial processes, such as weathering of railway ties or odor control during sewage treatment. Phenolic compounds can be produced both naturally, e.g., by isolation from coal tars, and synthetically, e.g., by toluene oxidation. Phenol is also produced from benzene during the manufacture of certain polymers such as polyamides, polycarbonates, and resins through the cumene process, which involves the production of cumene and its conversion to hydroperoxide, which is then decomposed to cumene hydroperoxide. One alternative production method is benzene oxidation with nitrous oxide (N2O). The main use of phenolic compounds is to produce bisphenol A (a compound used to produce polycarbonates), cyclohexanol (for the production of polyamides), and other nylon intermediates [1]. Phenol is also used as slimicide, in medicinal products (e.
Data Loading...
