Industrial wastewater treatment using batch recirculation electrocoagulation (BRE) process: Studies on operating parameters

Perumal Asaithambi; Mamuye Busier Yesuf; Rajendran Govindarajan; Periyasamy Selvakumar; Subramaniapillai Niju; T. Pandiyarajan; Abudukeremu Kadier; D. Duc Nguyen; Esayas Alemayehu

Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment (Aug 2023)

Industrial wastewater treatment using batch recirculation electrocoagulation (BRE) process: Studies on operating parameters

Perumal Asaithambi,
Mamuye Busier Yesuf,
Rajendran Govindarajan,
Periyasamy Selvakumar,
Subramaniapillai Niju,
T. Pandiyarajan,
Abudukeremu Kadier,
D. Duc Nguyen,
Esayas Alemayehu

Affiliations

Perumal Asaithambi: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Po Box - 378, Jimma, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.
Mamuye Busier Yesuf: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Po Box - 378, Jimma, Ethiopia
Rajendran Govindarajan: Department of Chemical Engineering, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Padur, Chennai 603103, Tamilnadu, India
Periyasamy Selvakumar: Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama 1888, Ethiopia
Subramaniapillai Niju: Department of Biotechnology, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004, Tamilnadu, India
T. Pandiyarajan: Department of Sciences, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Dinnedevarapadu , Kurnool 518007, Andhra Pradesh, India
Abudukeremu Kadier: Laboratory of Environmental Science and Technology, The Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Special Environments, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Corresponding author at: Laboratory of Environmental Science and Technology, The Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Special Environments, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China.
D. Duc Nguyen: Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, South Korea
Esayas Alemayehu: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Po Box - 378, Jimma, Ethiopia; Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management, Addis Ababa University, Po Box-1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 2
p. 100014

Abstract

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The environmental industry has demonstrated an increasing interest in employing electrocoagulation (EC) process to treat industrial wastewater/effluent for recycling/drinking purposes. An iron (Fe)/aluminum (Al) plate-based batch recirculation electrocoagulation technology for wastewater treatment in the distillery industry is discussed in this work. The impact of different operational parameters, including COD, wastewater pH, current, inter-electrode spacing, combination of electrodes, recirculation flow rate, concentration of electrolytes, and treatment duration on % color, % COD reduction efficiency, and energy consumption was examined. The experimental outcomes demonstrated that, the color removal was 100 %, COD removal was 99.90 %, and energy consumption was 7.73 kWh m−3 for COD of 3600 mg L−1, current of 0.56 Amp, combination of electrodes of Fe/Fe, inter-electrode spacing of 1 cm, wastewater pH of 7, flow rate of 15 L h−1, concentration of electrolytes of 5 g L−1, and treatment time of 180 min, respectively. It was found that, a longer treatment period, higher electrolyte concentrations and current, lower COD concentrations and recirculation flow rates, Fe/Fe electrode pairings, a pH of 7, and a smaller inter-electrode spacing all contributed to increased % COD reduction efficiency. The quantity of solid sludge formed were studied with the help of operational parameters, and the results were reported. Under the optimized process conditions, the wastewater treated can be fully recovered as clean water. As a consequence of this, the results of the experiments have shown that the batch recirculation electrocoagulation process has the potential to be a more promising solution to the problem of eliminating contaminants from wastewater and industrial effluent.

Published in Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment

ISSN: 2949-8392 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry; Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/sustainable-chemistry-for-the-environment

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