BackgroundDue to the high concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in oily sludge and their environmental hazards, the concern regarding their effects on health and the environment has increased. The main objective of this research was focused on evaluating the feasibility of using Fenton process in removing TPH in oily sludge from Shiraz oil refinery, Southern Iran.ResultsTo determine optimum conditions, four different parameters were assessed at four different levels using Taguchi method. According to data, the optimum conditions were as follows: the reaction time of 1 hour, H2O2 to sample mass ratio of 15, H2O2 to Fe (II) molar ratio of 10 and pH of 5. The maximum TPH reduction rate was 36.47%. Because of the semi-solid nature of the sample and the hydroxyl radicals mainly generated in the aqueous solution, TPH reduction rate greatly improved by adding water. Ultimately, by adding 40 ml water per gram of the oily sludge under optimized conditions, the reduction rate of 73.07% was achieved.ConclusionsThe results demonstrated that this method can be used as a pre-treatment method for the oily sludge. Moreover, a complementary treatment is necessary to reach the standard limit.