Central composite design for the optimization of removal of the azo dye, methyl orange, from waste water using fenton reaction

In this study the degradation of Methyl Orange, using Fenton reaction was studied and optimized using central composite design as a response surface methodology. The effects of various experimental parameters in this reaction were investigated using central composite design. 28 experiments, with 4 factors and 5 levels for each factor were designed. These factors (or variables) were: initial concentration of Fe (II), initial concentration of H2O2, initial concentration of oxalate and the reaction time. A full-quadratic polynomial equation between the percentage of dye degradation (as a response) and the studied parameters was established. After removing the non-significant variables from the model, response surface method was used to obtain the optimum conditions. The optimum ranges of variables were: 0.25 - 0.35 mM for initial concentration of Fe (II), 5-17 mM for initial concentration of H2O2, 4-9 mM for initial concentration of oxalate, and 50-80 min for the reaction time. Also the results of extra experiments showed that these optimized values can be used for real samples and yield to a high value for the response.