This study examined the optimum conditions for aniline oxidation by sulfate radicals generated from persulfate activated by ferrous iron in the presence of citric acid. With inputs from preliminary studies, the Design-Expert 7.0 Software was used to design experimental scenarios, identify key factors, and provide optimum conditions. Within the studied ranges of persulfate, ferrous iron, citric acid, temperature and pH of 15-50 mM, 2.5-10 mM, 0-1 mM, 188C-258C, and 6-8, respectively, the degradation of 0.5 mM aniline largely depended on persulfate, ferrous iron, and citric acid. Results showed that persulfate could be effectively activated by ferrous iron to form sulfate radicals. Citric acid could efficiently act as a chelating agent to ferrous iron, thus resulting in increasing ferrous iron solubility and sequentially promoting sulfate radical formation. The predicted model generated from the software is proposed to provide an estimation of aniline removal by persulfate radicals. In addition, among all chelating agents being tested, pyrocatechol provided the best performance for aniline removal.