Decomposition Of Phenol And Its Reaction Product Formations In Aqueous Solution Using High Energy Electron Irradiation

INTRODUCTION

Phenol and phenolic compounds are commonly found at low concentrations in natural
waters. However, at the high concentrations found in some industrial wastewater discharges
and agricultural activities (1-3) phenol may be toxic (4). Phenol is also one of the most
frequently found organic compounds at Superfund sites (5). Many treatment methods for
phenolds have been developed: conventinal biological, physical, chemical, ozone oxidation
and ozone oxidation combined with UV light or hydrogen peroxide. Current studies using
high energy electron beam irradiation have demonstrated that the process is efficient for the
destruction of several classes of hazardous organic compounds (6-10). In this paper we
extend this work to the destruction of phenol in aqueous solution in a large-scale flowthrough
system. Studies have bean conducted at several solute concentrations, in the
presence and absence of clay and at different pHs and alkalinity concentrations.