Kinetic Modelling of the Photodegradation Process of Water-Soluble Polymers

Synthetic water-soluble polymers, well-known refractory pollutants, are abundant in wastewater effluents since they are extensively used in industry in various applications. These polymers can be effectively degraded by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). AOPs most often employ ultraviolet (UV) radiation with the addition of hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2). The photochemical kinetic model of water-soluble polymers’ photodegradation using UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation batch process describes the disintegration of the polymer chains in the process. The chapter discusses the water-soluble polymers’ photodegradation, namely the mechanistic kinetic model of this process. The mass balance equations for the main chemical compounds in water were applied to determine the rate of water-soluble polymers’ photodegradation. In the kinetic modeling of photo-oxidative degradation of polymers in an aqueous solution, continuous distribution kinetics based on the population balance equations were applied. A nonlinear least-squares objective function was applied to calculate the model parameters. This can become the basis for the creation of industrial photo-reactors.