A new development of dyestuffs degradation system using ultrasound

Dyestuffs are often present in industrial wastewaters and can consist of hazardous substances which have a serious impact on the environment and personal health. This report describes a system developed to degrade these substances using sonochemical reactions. Ultrasonic frequencies of 118, 224, 404 and 651 kHz and power input values of 11.4, 29.0 and 41.5 W were tested on Rhodamine B and Orange II dyestuff solutions in order to find the best degradation conditions. The ultrasonic irradiation of air-saturated solutions produces free radicals that combine and generates hydrogen peroxide, and compared to the production of hydrogen peroxide when irradiating water, a decrease was found during the irradiation to dyestuff solutions, indicating that some of the free radicals were consumed in the dyestuffs degradation process. The effects of the ultrasonic irradiation conditions on the pH, nitric and nitrous acid formations as well as the total organic carbon value (TOC) were also investigated. For the ultrasonic frequencies of 224, 404 and 651 kHz, the degradation rates were very similar, however, the 118 kHz system presented a degradation rate of about one-third that of the higher frequencies for both dyestuffs. The Rhodamine B solutions were decolorized within 2 h of ultrasonic irradiation for all systems with the exception of the 118 kHz one. For Orange II, except for the 118 kHz system, all solutions were decolorized within 4 h of ultrasonic irradiation. All reactions were carried out at 25 degrees C and the total ultrasonic irradiation time was 10 h.