Modeling the sequential photodechlorination of hexachlorobenzene in surfactant micelles

A five-stage consecutive irreversible model is derived to predict the photodegradation of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in a surfactant solution, which was proven to be a useful treatment process following the surfactant-aided soil washing or remediation. The photodegradation of HCB in surfactant micelles is dominated by photodechlorination, which sequentially removes chlorides one at a time. The minor pathways of photoisomerization and photochlorination were neglected in the kinetic model. The results show that the derived consecutive irreversible model can accurately predict the decay of HCB and the formation (and decay) of its less-chlorinated congeners. The initial rate approach was used to identify the proper range of decay rate of each chlorinated benzene; so the overall rate constants can be determined easier by trial. The decreased performance of a completely mixed flow reactor (CMFR) with continuous input is also quantified compared to a batch reactor.