Abstract
In this paper, the active component zero-valent copper (ZVC) supported by chitosan activated carbon ball (CTS-ACB) (i.e. ZVC/CTS-ACS catalyst) was successfully prepared. The characterization results showed obvious characteristics of activated carbon and zero-valent copper. The catalyst was used to degrade fulvic acid (FA) in catalytic wet oxidation(CWO) system. The two significant factors acidity and temperature were found with the statistical tool Plackett-Buimanhe(PB) in CWO for FA removal. Then the response surface methodology(RSM) model was used to optimize the experimental conditions in order to obtain the optimal FA removal rate. With the optimal experimental parameters, that is, a temperature of 94°C and an acidity of 3.8, the average maximum removal rate of FA was 93.02%, which was in agreement with the expected result of the model 93.86%, indicating that the model is well established. The comparison of catalytic performance showed that the addition of catalyst ZVC / CTS-ACS could increase the removal rate of FA, colour number(CN) and TOC by 93.6%, 83.5% and 81.9% respectively. The utilization of ZVC can greatly increase the mineralization rate of FA , which indicates the high catalytic activity and minerazation of the catalyst.