The effect of surfactants on the ozonation of o-cresol in aqueous solutions in a rotating packed contactor.

Steady-state dissolved ozone concentrations were maintained relatively constant for experiments on ozone dissolution conducted in the presence of various amounts of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and Triton X-100 (TX-100), an anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant, respectively. Ozonation in a rotating packed contactor has been shown to be feasible for achieving nearly complete decomposition of o-cresol within about 10 minutes of reaction time for most experiments conducted. The temporal decomposition behaviour of o-cresol in aqueous solution by ozonation was described by a two-step pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. Even though the presence of SDS and TX-100 slightly affected the decomposition rate constant of o-cresol by ozonation in the rotating packed contactor, the mineralization of total organic carbon was apparently reduced with the addition of SDS and TX-100.