Oxidative Treatment of Cyanide in Wastewater Using Hydrogen Peroxide and Homogeneous Catalyst

Batch kinetic tests were conducted to determine the effects of experimental conditions and catalysts on cyanide degradation. Cyanide degradation by hydrogen peroxide was found to follow first-order kinetics. Reaction rates increased with increasing pH and decreasing temperature. The activation energy for cyanide degradation by hydrogen peroxide was found to be -13.81 kJ/mol. The addition of Cu²⁺ or Cd²⁺ as catalysts resulted in increasing reaction rates. In alkaline conditions, the catalytic effects of Cu²⁺ or Cd²⁺ were accelerated and Cu ²⁺ was found to be a more effective catalyst than Cd²⁺. The practical relevance of the laboratory oxidation method of cyanide was demonstrated for actual industrial wastewater.