Ozone-Based Advanced Oxidation Processes for the Decomposition of N-Methyl-2-Pyrolidone in Aqueous Medium

The present study investigates the decomposition of N-Methyl-2-Pyrolidone (NMP) using conventional ozonation (O3), ozonation in the presence of UV light (UV/O3), hydrogen peroxide (O3/H2O2), and UV/H2O2 processes under various experimental conditions. The influence of solution pH, ozone gas flow dosage, and H2O2 dosage on the degradation of NMP was studied. All ozone-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were efficient in alkaline medium, whereas the UV/H2O2 process was efficient in acidic medium. Increasing ozone gas flow dosage would accelerate the degradation of NMP up to certain level beyond which no positive effect was observed in ozonation as well as UV light enhanced ozonation processes. Hydrogen peroxide dosage strongly influenced the degradation of NMP and a hydrogen peroxide dosage of 0.75 g/L and 0.5 g/L was found to be the optimum dosage in UV/H2O2 and O3/H2O2 processes, respectively. The UV/O3 process was most efficient in TOC removal. Overall it can be concluded that ozonation and ozone-based AOPs are promising processes for an efficient removal of NMP in wastewater.