Electro-oxidation and chemical oxidation treatment of sugar industry wastewater with ferrous material: An investigation of physicochemical characteristic of sludge

Abstract

The growth of any nation depends upon the contribution of industrialization. Sugarcane industry is among one of them. It required a large quantity of fresh water for processing and release the large quantity of wastewater. This discharge has a major effect on the Environment and receiving bodies. To protect the surrounding environment an attempt has been made to treat the sugar industry wastewater by electrocoagulation and coagulation process. The result shows that treatment with electrocoagulation could achieve 85% chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and 89% color reduction at initial pH of sample 6.5, electrode distance 20 mm, current density 156 Am−2 and electrolyte concentration 0.5 M (NaCl). Addition of ferric salt as chemical coagulant after electrocoagulation treatment shows an overall 98% COD reduction and 99.7% color reduction at same pH with 5 mM coagulant mass loading. The sludge generated after treatments are found suitable for the alternative application. Keywords: Chemical oxygen demand, Dischargeable limit, Reduction, Settled sludge, Wastewater