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THE USE OF IRON IN PEAT WATER FOR FENTON PROCESS
Mirna Apriani, Ali Masduqi
ABSTRACT
The use of Iron in Peat Water for Fenton Process
Mirna Apriani & Ali Masduqi, myrna_apriani@yahoo.com, masduqi@its.ac.id
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, Indonesia
The scarcity of water sources in the dry season caused peat water is still widely used as alternative water in peat area such as Kalimantan Island,
Indonesia. Peat water contains organic matter, acid and iron (Fe 2+ ). For treating the peat water, advanced oxidation process (AOP) is an alternative
treatment. AOP is an oxidation process that produces hydroxyl radical (OH*) which can oxidize the organic matter. One of AOP method is fenton
process. This process uses Fe 2+ and hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer to produce hydroxyl radical. Fenton process can be run effectively at pH 2 to 4.
Based on the characteristics of peat water, the aim of research is to examine the possibility using Fe 2+ in the peat water for fenton process. This
research was conducted in a batch system with varying ratio H 2 O 2 /Fe 2+ at 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5. The oxidation time is 150 minutes and measurement of
iron and organic matter concentration was conducted every 30 minutes. The results of research show that iron in peat water can react with H 2 O 2 to
produce OH* for removing the organic. It is time for 60 minute to oxidize in fenton process using peat water.
Keywords: fenton process, peat water, hydroxyl radical
INTRODUCTION
Peat is formed from the accumulation of plant organic material on the
condition of the stagnant swamp, so the process of decomposition is
slow then there is the accumulation of organic matter. Organic matter in
peat soil is a humic acid and fulvic acid. Peat soils are acid and contain
cations such as Fe and Mn (Barchia, 2006). So that the peat water has
high organic matter content, colour, are acid and contain high Fe.
Indonesia has peat areas such as Kalimantan, Sumatera and Papua
Island.
Peat is the remaining of heap dead plants then decomposed by
anaerobic and aerobic bacteria into a more stable component. It was not
only organic matter which formed peat but also inorganic matter in
small amount. The environment of peat deposition is always in the
condition of saturation of water (more than 90%). Organic matter of
peat-forming from plants in comparison with the different matter
according to the decomposition level. Organic matter is composed of
cellulose, lignin, bitumen, humus and others. Peat-forming elements is
mostly composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. In
addition to the main elements are also other elements such as Al, Si, S,
P and others (Sukandarrumidi, 1995). The humus process from plant
residu into humus or peat called humification will result in humic acid
and fulvic acid. Humic acids contain more aromatic compounds than
the fulvic acids, fulvic acids are aliphatic compounds containing more
than humic acid. Aromatic organic acids characterized by a number of
phenolic-OH functional groups is high, while the aliphatic organic
acids characterized by a number of high-COOH functional groups. Peat
material with relatively high of lignin, contains of humic acids more
than peat material which is relatively high cellulose content. Indonesia
has tropical peat made from woody forest which contains a high lignin,
while non-tropical peat materials are generally made of sphagnum with
high of cellulose and hemicellulose content. The humus process from
plant residu into humus or peat called humification will result in humic
acid and fulvic acid. Humic acids contain more aromatic compounds
than the fulvic acids, fulvic acids are aliphatic compounds containing
more than humic acid. Aromatic organic acids characterized by a high
number of phenolic-OH functional groups, while the aliphatic organic
acids characterized by a high number of high-COOH functional groups.
Peat material with relatively high of lignin, contains of humic acids
more than peat material which is relatively high cellulose content.
Indonesia has tropical peat made from woody forest which contains a
high lignin, while non-tropical peat materials are generally made of
sphagnum with high of cellulose and hemicellulose content (Barchia,
2006).
Water contains natural organic matter (NOM) as a result of the
interaction between the hydrological cycle and the biosphere and
geosphere. These interactions are responsible for the diverse nature of
NOM as the organic content of a particular water body is dependent on
the surrounding environments biogeochemical cycles. NOM is a
complex mixture of organic material and has shown to consist of
organics as diverse as humic acids, hydrophilic acids, proteins, lipids,
hydrocarbons and amino acids. The range of organic components in
NOM varies from water to water and seasonally, this consequently
leads to variations in the reactivity of NOM with chemical disinfectants
such as chlorine (Goslan et al, 2003 in Murray and Parsons, 2004).
Humic substances (HS) mainly humic acids represent a major fraction
of natural organic matter in ground and surface water and pose a variety
of problems in treatment operations and distribution system. HS
contribute to odor, color, taste as well as acidity problems in water
supplies (Katsumata, 2008).
Several studies of peat water treatment into clean water and drinking
water have been carried out. By using a combination of alum coagulant,
peat and lime that is able to neutralize the pH, the color removal
efficiency reached 97.5%, 98.5% removal in turbidity and a decrease of
90% organic matter (Karbito, 1999). The decreasing of organic content
using ultrafiltration membrane with pre-treatment powdered activated
carbon (PAC) which achieved an efficiency of 98.02% color re moval
and 98.54% organic removal (Riduan, 2002). Combination of
biological treatment using upflow anaerobic filter with physical
processing using slow sand filter can reduce organic matter, color,
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