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A Simple and Semi-Empirical Model to Predict THMs Generation in Water Facilities Including pH Effects

  • MaríB. Gilliard EMAIL logo , MarÍa E. Lovato and Carlos A. MartÍa
Published/Copyright: June 20, 2013
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International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering
From the journal International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering Volume 11 Issue 2

Abstract

This work presents a study focused on the development of a simple useful tool to predict the generation of trihalomethanes in drinking water purification systems, using two precursors and trichloromethane as model compounds through a simple chlorine decay model. This work proposed a semiempirical model without adjustable power parameters where fast and slow stages and the effect of pH were included. Despite that the model is not based in a complete kinetic scheme, using the proposed equations it is possible to predict the simultaneous evolution of chlorine and TCM with a set of linear kinetics parameters which characterize the system and will be obtained using simple routine laboratory measurements. The results show that both TCM formation and chlorine decay are strongly dependent on the chemical nature of the model precursor. Although resorcinol and phenol have different reactivity with chlorine and represent different functional groups which are present in natural compounds, the TCM generation appears to be properly described in both cases by the total chlorine consumption. Considering that during the potabilization processes the pH changes, the study of the effects of this variable is very important to achieve the minimization of THMs generation. The pH has a significant effect on the time evolution of chlorine-substituted hydroxybenzene intermediates and therefore on the TCM formation, since the properties of the reacting species are directly affected by the reaction medium for their participation in the different reaction paths. The study of the distribution and selectivity of the intermediate species allowed explaining the results obtained for the kinetics of formation of TCM. The results suggest that in order to understand the effect of pH, the nature of oxidation of HOCl and ClO‒, should be considered simultaneously with the electronegative nature of the precursor compounds. Finally, in terms of minimizing the generation of THM it is important to consider the potential impact of pH changes within the water treatment process and supply and the stages where chlorination may be carried out.

Keywords: chlorination; trihalomethane; potabilization

Acknowledgements

Thanks are given to Universidad Nacional del Litoral and CONICET for financial help and the doctoral fellowships of M.B.G. The technical assistance of Silvina Addona and Juan C. Andini is gratefully appreciated.

Notation

TCMTrichloromethane
THMTrihalomethane
NOMNatural organic matter
RResorcinol
PPhenol
Total concentration of chlorine oxidative species (HOCl+OCl–)
ClPsChloro-phenol intermediates
ClRsChloro-resorcinol intermediates
Fraction of the attributed to the rapid reaction
Apparent rate constant
MCP2-monochlorophenol plus 4-monochlorophenol
DCP2,6-dichlorophenol plus 2,4-dichlorophenol
TCP2,4,6-trichlorophenol
TPsPhenol plus Chloro-phenol intermediates
Greek Letters
ηvirtual “yield” of
Subscripts
TCMRelative to trichloromethane
Relative to total concentration of chlorine oxidative species (HOCl+OCl–)
rDenotes rapid reaction
sDenotes slow reaction
Superscripts
0Represents initial condition

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Published Online: 2013-06-20

©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin / Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijcre-2012-0050
Keywords for this article
chlorination; trihalomethane; potabilization

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Masthead
  2. Masthead
  3. Editorial
  4. In Honor of Alberto E. Cassano: Researcher, Engineer, and Academic
  5. Articles
  6. From Ideal Reactor Concepts to Reality: The Novel Drum Reactor for Photocatalytic Wastewater Treatment
  7. Synthesis, Characterization, and Comparison of Sol–Gel TiO2 Immobilized Photocatalysts
  8. Determination of Kinetic Parameter in a Unified Kinetic Model for the Photodegradation of Phenol by Using Nonlinear Regression and the Genetic Algorithm
  9. Mass Transfer and Conservation from a Finite Source to an Infinite Media
  10. Modelling and Simulation of Gas–liquid Hydrodynamics in a Rectangular Air-lift Reactor
  11. Two-Dimensional Modeling of an Externally Irradiated Slurry Photoreactor
  12. Role of Aspect Ratio and Joule Heating within the Fluid Region Near a Cylindrical Electrode in Electrokinetic Remediation: A Numerical Solution based on the Boundary Layer Model
  13. Solar Water Disinfection Using NF-codoped TiO2 Photocatalysis: Estimation of Scaling-up Parameters
  14. A Simple and Semi-Empirical Model to Predict THMs Generation in Water Facilities Including pH Effects
  15. On the Standardization of the Photocatalytic Gas/Solid Tests
  16. Microalgae Technology: A Patent Survey
  17. Influence of Physical and Optical Parameters on 2,4-Dichlorophenol Degradation
  18. Factors Capable of Modifying the Response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the Inactivation Induced by Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
  19. Enhanced Antibacterial Activity of CeO2 Nanoparticles by Surfactants
  20. Determination of Photochemical, Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Efficiencies in a Photoelectrocatalytic Reactor
  21. Correlations between Molecular Descriptors from Various Volatile Organic Compounds and Photocatalytic Oxidation Kinetic Constants
  22. Role of Joule Heating in Electro-Assisted Processes: A Boundary Layer Approach for Rectangular Electrodes
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