Treating PAHs in Scrubber Washwater: an Investigation into Fenton-like Advanced Oxidation

The maritime transport sector primarily uses fuel oil, leading to exhaust gas emissions that contain harmful substances like heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which pose risks to marine ecosystems. Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (scrubbers) are essential for complying with international emissions regulations, but the discharge of contaminated washwater presents a significant environmental challenge. This washwater, characterized by an acidic pH and the presence of metals and PAHs, contains naphthalene in high concentrations. To address this issue, the evaluation and optimization of phenton-like advance oxidation processes that use two different approachs (with persulfate and hydrogen peroxide) to treat scrubber washwater are proposed. These technologies generate radicals with high oxidation potential, capable of eliminating hard-to-degrade compounds such as naphthalene. Activation will be carried out using UV light and transition metals, specifically iron and vanadium, which are already present in scrubber waters. Treatment effectiveness will be measured by analyzing naphthalene degradation at different metal concentrations, simulating conditions found in these systems.