The application of the photo-Fenton process to the treatment of saline wastewater contaminated with hydrocarbons is investigated. Aqueous saline solutions containing raw gasoline were used as a model oil-fieldproduced water. The dependence on concentrations of the following reagents has been appropriately evaluated: hydrogen peroxide (100-200 mM), iron ions (0.5-1 mM), and sodium chloride (200-2000 ppm). The reactions were monitored by measurement of the absorption spectra and total organic carbon (TOC). Experimental results demonstrate that the photo-Fenton process is feasible for the treatment of wastewaters containing hydrocarbons, even in the presence of high concentrations of salt. The effect of the salt in this process is described through a series of reactions. A simple feedforward neural network model was found to correlate well the observed data for the degradation process.

The inhibition of the photo-Fenton (Fe2+/Fe3+, H2O2, UV light) degradation of synthetic phenol wastewater solutions by chloride ions is shown to affect primarily the photochemical step of the process, having only a slight effect on the thermal or Fenton step. Kinetic studies of the reactions of oxoiron (IV) (FeO2+) with phenol indicate that, if FeO2+ is formed in the photo-Fenton degradation, its role is probably minor. Finally, it is shown that, for both a synthetic phenol wastewater and an aqueous extract of Brazilian gasoline, the inhibition of the photo-Fenton degradation of the organic material in the presence of chloride ion can be circumvented by maintaining the pH of the medium at or slightly above 3 throughout the process, even in the presence of significant amounts of added chloride ion (0.5 M).