Process design and optimization of EDTA-biojarosite – a treatment approach in the Box–Behnken framework

A study was conducted to investigate the performance of biojarosite as a catalyst in Fenton oxidation with and without the presence of the chelating agent ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA). The addition of EDTA resulted in increased iron dis-solution, confirming the role of EDTA as a chelating agent. The heterogeneous catalytic properties of jarosite were confirmed by the removal efficiencies of 93.5 and 83.4, with and without EDTA, respectively. The Box–Behnken method was employed as a Design of Experiments tool to identify suitable experimental runs. Both Fenton oxidation and EDTA-based Fenton oxidation were examined separately, with PCP removal being the response variable. In the case of Fenton oxidation, the optimization process resulted in the selection of 0.1–1 g/L of iron catalyst, 100–1,000 mg/L of H2O2, and a pH range of 2.5–3.5. On the other hand, for EDTA-based Fenton oxidation, the optimal conditions were determined to be 0.1–1 g/L of iron catalyst, 100–1,000 mg/L of H2 O2, and a pH range of 6.5–7.5. ANOVA was conducted to analyze the results, and the model fit was examined. © 2023 The Authors.