Radiation collector systems comparison in Contaminants of Emerging Concern degradation by solar heterogeneous photocatalysis

Abstract Wastewater with Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) can be generated from different sources as industry, agriculture and urban and hospital wastes. Heterogeneous Photocatalysis (HP) with TiO2 is one of the Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) most suitable for water treatment with CEC. In this research, three CEC: Safranin T (SF), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and Sulfacetamide (SAM) degradation was evaluated by solar-HP in a quartz wall reactor. First, 365 nm wavelength radiation was used and the best operating conditions was determined under the high flow and aeration configuration, obtaining a removal rate of 48.05% for SF, 11.64% for 2,4-D and 6.98 for SAM. Then, under these conditions, SF, SAM and 2,4-D degradation with solar lighting was made on 4 radiation collector systems configurations, Flat Plate Collector (FPC), V Collector (VC), Parabolic Collector (PC) and Compound Parabolic Cylinder Collector (CPC) until reaching the same value of accumulated energy (122.77 kJ m− 2) finding that the PC had the best performance in the treatment for the three pollutants. Finally, the Collector Impact Ratio Factor (CIRF) for the pollutants was calculated, achieving until 12 times degradation for SAM.