Recent trends in the decomposition of chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons by ultrasound irradiation and Fenton's reagent

Over the past few years, a large number of studies have been conducted on the use of ultrasound for decomposition of harmful organic pollutants, particularly chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (CAH) in wastewater. The published reports cover a variety of applications, including both ultrasonic treatment alone and in combination with other methods, e.g., advanced chemical oxidation processes. This article presents a review of recent work on ultrasonic-based methods of CAH decomposition, with emphasis on the applications of ultrasound alone and in combination with Fenton's reagent, as attractive advanced oxidation systems. In the first part of this review, the basic principles of sonochemical treatment are presented, followed by a review of the applications of ultrasound alone for CAH degradation. In the second part, the mechanisms of CAH degradation with Fenton's reagent and its application for CAH degradation are summarized. In the final part, studies on the applications of ultrasound together with Fenton's reagent are reviewed. The reported results suggest that a combination of ultrasound and Fenton's reagent is more attractive for practical application than the use of either method separately. Further studies, however, are required in this area because the reaction mechanism and the relationship between the reaction rates and process parameters for such a combined process are not yet well established.