The fresh water resources are clearly threatened by the presence of emergent pollutants, such as: pesticides, pharmaceutical and industrial byproducts. The 17-� estradiol is the active component of several commercial contraceptive drugs and there are previous studies, which have reported this compound in surface water bodies. This supposes a serious risk for aquatic ecosystems and even for human health. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been proposed as an alternative to remove this contaminant. In this study, a solution with residues of commercial estradiol was treated in a solar photocatalytic CPC reactor with P25 TiO2 as the catalyst. The aim of this work was to estimate kinetic constants independent on the radiant field by using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model and the Six-Flux model (SFM) approach to calculate the photonic component of the rate-law. Four different initial concentrations of 17-� estradiol were tested (3, 5, 7 and 9 ppm) and also the total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations of the drug were followed during the photocatalytic degradation of the contaminant. The kinetic study was focused on the experimental data corresponding to the TOC degradation because the presence of the oxidation byproducts of the drug and its additives. Two catalyst loads were studied: 0.4 and 0.6 g/L. The 17-� estradiol was degraded faster with 0.4 g/L whereas the TOC degraded faster with 0.6 g/L. The kinetic parameters for the TOC degradation were found for the two cases (0.4 and 0.6 g/L) showing very similar results. This means that the SFM and the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model are suitable for describing solar photocatalytic reactions under the studied conditions.

Degradation of commercial 17-� estradiol in a pilot-scale solar photocatalytic plant: Estimation of parameters independent on the radiant field

248th National Meeting (2014)

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