Optimization of photo-Fenton process of RO concentrated coking wastewater using response surface methodology

The objective of this study was aimed at investigating the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from reverse osmosis (RO) concentrated coking wastewater by the photo-Fenton process. The optimum extraction conditions for the photo-Fenton process by Box-Behnken design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM) to establish a predictive polynomial quadratic model were discussed based on a single factor test. Optimized parameters validated by the analysis of variances (ANOVA) were found to be H(2)O(2) concentration of 345.2 mg/L, pH value of 4.1 and reaction time of 103.5 minutes under ultraviolet irradiation. The experimental results of the COD removal under the optimized conditions presented better agreement with the predicted values with deviation error of 3.2%. The results confirmed that RSM based on BBD was a suitable method to optimize the operating conditions of RO concentrated coking wastewater.