Bench Scale Fenton's Oxidation of TCE and By-product Formation: Revisited

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most common groundwater contaminants in the United States. The degradation products of TCE may be more hazardous than the parent compound. With increased use of advanced oxidation and permeable barriers to treat groundwater, this research was undertaken to reevaluate the occurrence of these by-products. Fenton's oxidation was assessed for the ability to destroy trichloroethylene (TCE) in an aqueous solution over 360 minutes. TCE rapidly disappeared from the solution with a decrease of approximately 90 percent in the first 90 minutes. The degradation appeared to follow a second order reaction. Two dichloroetheylene isomers (DCE) appeared in the early stages of the experiments and then began to degrade over the latter stages of the experiment following pseudo-first order reaction kinetics. This research indicates that harmful by-products are formed, but may be degradable.