RESUMO

Emerging contaminants (EC) are an imminent risk due to potential toxicity to aquatic ecosystems and human beings. This type of contaminants is found in low concentrations and usually present incomplete or inefficient removal by conventional treatments, which entail its permanence and constant increase. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) are an alternative for the elimination of dangerous and resistant substances in wastewater. So, this research evaluates the caffeine degradation in aqueous solution by AOP, such as: Fenton, Electro-Oxidation (EO) with boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes, Electro-Fenton (EF) and Photo-Electro-Fenton (PEF). The influences of pH, concentration of the supporting electrolyte and specific electric charge were investigated using a Taguchi׳s factorial design, which allowed to identify the contribution of each variable in the process. The data obtained in this work can be useful for scaling process and cost analysis because it provide the information at pilot plant scale.