Performance of a solar photocatalysis reactor as pretreatment for wastewater via UV, UV/TiO, and UV/HO to control membrane fouling.

The performance of a solar photocatalysis reactor as pretreatment for the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) and turbidity from municipal wastewater was achieved by implementing an integrated system as tertiary treatment. The process consisted of ultraviolet (UV) sunlight, UV sunlight/HO, and UV sunlight/TiO nanocatalysts as pretreatment steps to prevent ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling. The characterization of TiO was conducted with X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy , and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis. This study investigated the effect of time and solar radiation using UV, UV/HO, and UV/TiO to remove TOC and turbidity. The transmembrane pressure improvement was studied using a UF membrane system to pretreat wastewater with different UV doses of sunlight for 5 h and UV/HO and UV/TiO. The results showed that the highest removal efficiency of the turbidity and TOC reached 95% and 31%, respectively. The highest removal efficiency of the turbidity reached 40, 75, and 95% using UV, UV/HO, and UV/TiO, respectively, while the optimal removal efficiency of TOC reached 20%, 30%, and 50%, respectively.