Hydroxyl radical intensified Cu2O NPs/H2O2 process in ceramic membrane reactor for degradation on DMAc wastewater from polymeric membrane manufacturer

High-concentration industrial wastewater containing N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) from polymeric membrane manufacturer was degraded in Cu2O NPs/H2O2 Fenton process. In the membrane-assisted Fenton process DMAc removal rate was up to 98% with 120 min which was increased by 23% over the batch reactor. It was found that ·OH quench time was extended by 20 min and the maximum ·OH productivity was notably88.7% higher at 40 min. The degradation reaction rate constant was enhanced by 2.2 times with membrane dispersion (k = 0.0349 min−1). DMAc initial concentration (C0) and H2O2 flux (Jp) had major influence on mass transfer and kinetics, meanwhile, membrane pore size (rp) and length (Lm) also affected the reaction rate. The intensified radical yield, fast mass transfer and nanoparticles high activity all contributed to improve pollutant degradation efficiency. Time-resolved DMAc degradation pathway was analyzed as hydroxylation, demethylation and oxidation leading to the final products of CO2, H2O and NO3− (rather than NH3 from biodegradation). Continuous process was operated in the dual-membrane configuration with in situ reaction and separation. After five cycling tests, DMAc removal was all above 95% for the initial [DMAc]0 = 14,000 mg/L in wastewater and stability of the catalyst and the membrane maintained well.