Degradation of Remazol Black B dye and its simulated dyebath wastewater by advanced oxidation processes in heterogeneous and homogeneous media

This study focused on the degradation of hydrolysed Remazol Black B (CI Reactive Black 5), a common diazo reactive dye, in aqueous solution. In the presence of various dye auxiliary chemicals a typical Remazol Black exhausted dyebath liquor simulated, which was then treated with homogeneous [ozonation with hydroxy ions, and Fe(II) or Fe(III) with hydrogen peroxide] and heterogeneous (titanium dioxide with UV‐A irradiation) advanced oxidation processes. Treatment performance of the investigated advanced oxidation systems was comparatively assessed in terms of the environmental sum parameters total organic carbon, biochemical oxygen demand and spectrophotometric measurements. The results obtained clearly reveal that the investigated advanced oxidation processes are capable of completely decolourising and partially mineralising the dye solution and its simulated dyebath effluent under predetermined reaction conditions. During the application of alkaline ozonation at an ozone dose of 2340 mg/ml, a three‐fold biodegradability enhancement was observed.