Detoxification of synthetic and real groundwater contaminated with gasoline and diesel using Fenton, photo-Fenton, and biofilters

Abstract

The treatment of groundwater contaminated with gasoline and diesel with H2O2, H2O2 + UV, Fenton, and photo-Fenton was studied. Fenton reactions provided the best results with 1 mM of Fe2+ and 200 mM of H2O2. High contaminant removals were achieved, in particular those of COD (Fenton: 69%, photo-Fenton: 97%), Diesel Range Organics (99.9% both reactions), Gasoline Range Organics (99.9% both reactions), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (Fenton: 83.8%, photo-Fenton: 92.5%), Total Phenols (Fenton: 67.3%, photo-Fenton: 90.4%), and toxicity toward Vibrio fischeri (100%, both reactions). The experiments have been performed with synthetic and real samples. The economic cost of the proposed method (14 USD/m3) is reduced by 60% with respect to that currently used in Ecuador.