Feasibility of phenolic contaminant removal from high-saline wastewater by chloride-mediated activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and peracetic acid (PAA)

Phenolic pollutants are highly toxic and can affect the growth and reproduction of aquatic organisms, as well as contaminate drinking water resources, posing a significant threat to both ecological and human health. However, conventional biological treatment processes are constrained in treating high salinity organic wastewaters due to the potentially lethal effects of high concentrations of dissolved salts on microorganisms. While advanced oxidation processes have shown promise in removing phenolic contaminants from high-saline wastewater, their widespread application is always limited by the high costs associated with energy and chemical usage. In this study, we explored the potential application of directly introducing peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and peracetic acid (PAA) to high-salinity water for the removal of nine phenolic contaminants. By establishing a correlation between the degradation rate constants in the PMS/Cl– (kPMS) and PAA/Cl– (kPAA) systems and various molecule descriptors, two multiple linear regression models were developed to predict the degradation rate constants under investigation. Additionally, we selected bisphenol A (BPA) as the target contaminant and investigated the impact of common ions found in natural water, such as HCO3–, NO3–, and humic acid, on the removal of BPA using two systems. Finally, we conducted experiments using tap water and sewage water to demonstrate the practical application and performance of the two systems. These experiments aimed to provide valuable insights into the influence of background chloride on PMS and PAA activation, as well as the potential of direct PMS/PAA introduction for eliminating phenolic micropollutants from high-saline wastewaters.