Electrodissolution of Aluminum Electrodes in Electrocoagulation Processes

Electrochemical-based approaches for the treatment of forever chemicals: Removal of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from wastewater

Electrochemical based approaches for the treatment of recalcitrant water borne pollutants are known to exhibit superior function in terms of efficiency and rate of treatment. Considering the stability of Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are designated as forever chemicals, which generating from various industrial activities. PFAS are contaminating the environment in small concentrations, yet exhibit severe environmental and health impacts. Electro-oxidation (EO) is a recent development that treats PFAS, in which different reactive species generates at anode due to oxidative reaction and reductive reactions at the cathode. Compared to water and wastewater treatment methods those being implemented, electrochemical approaches demonstrate superior function against PFAS. EO completely mineralizes (almost 100 %) non-biodegradable organic matter and eliminate some of the inorganic species, which proven as a robust and versatile technology. Electrode materials, electrolyte concentration pH and the current density applying for electrochemical processes determine the treatment efficiency. EO along with electrocoagulation (EC) treats PFAS along with other pollutants from variety of industries showed highest degradation of 7.69 mmol/g of PFAS. Integrated approach with other processes was found to exhibit improved efficiency in treating PFAS using several electrodes boron-doped diamond (BDD), zinc, titanium and lead based with efficiency the range of 64 to 97 %.

Electrochemical Methods for Water Purification, Ion Separations, and Energy Conversion

Agricultural development, extensive industrialization, and rapid growth of the global population have inadvertently been accompanied by environmental pollution. Water pollution is exacerbated by the decreasing ability of traditional treatment methods to comply with tightening environmental standards. This review provides a comprehensive description of the principles and applications of electrochemical methods for water purification, ion separations, and energy conversion. Electrochemical methods have attractive features such as compact size, chemical selectivity, broad applicability, and reduced generation of secondary waste. Perhaps the greatest advantage of electrochemical methods, however, is that they remove contaminants directly from the water, while other technologies extract the water from the contaminants, which enables efficient removal of trace pollutants. The review begins with an overview of conventional electrochemical methods, which drive chemical or physical transformations via Faradaic reactions at electrodes, and proceeds to a detailed examination of the two primary mechanisms by which contaminants are separated in nondestructive electrochemical processes, namely electrokinetics and electrosorption. In these sections, special attention is given to emerging methods, such as shock electrodialysis and Faradaic electrosorption. Given the importance of generating clean, renewable energy, which may sometimes be combined with water purification, the review also discusses inverse methods of electrochemical energy conversion based on reverse electrosorption, electrowetting, and electrokinetic phenomena. The review concludes with a discussion of technology comparisons, remaining challenges, and potential innovations for the field such as process intensification and technoeconomic optimization.

Nitrogen and organic load removal from anaerobically digested leachate using a hybrid electro-oxidation and electro-coagulation process

This study evaluated the performance of an integrated electrochemical process, which simultaneously utilizes electro-oxidation (EO) and electro-coagulation (EC) methods while removing organic and nitrogen loads from high-strength leachate obtained from anaerobic digesters. A bipolar arrangement of the aluminum electrode, sandwiched between a monopolar boron-doped diamond anode and stainless-steel cathode, integrates EC and EO into a single reactor. This arrangement demonstrated an enhancement of 33%, 27%, and 24% in removal capacity for ammonia nitrogen (AN), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and total nitrogen, respectively, when compared to just EO at 0.8 A current intensity after 24 h. Increasing the current intensity from 0.4 A to 1.0 A enhanced the organic nitrogen and AN removal. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) exhibited initial faster removal kinetics with higher current intensities and eventually reached 95%-98% removal for intensities of 0.6 A or higher. Additional removal for AN, TKN were also observed with increasing current intensity. Lowering the pH further expedited the COD removal kinetics. Reducing and maintaining the pH at 4, 6, and 8 by dosing of hydrochloric acid (HCl) resulted in the 100% removal of AN and TKN from the integrated system in 6, 8, and 20 h, respectively. Accelerated removal of COD and the enhanced removal of AN and TKN through pH control could be linked to the formation of active chlorine species in bulk solution. The integrated system offered lower energy consumption than EO due to oxidation on the additional anodic surface of the bipolar electrode, as well as the adsorption-precipitation of contaminants in aluminum flocs.

Investigation of electrode passivation during electrocoagulation treatment with aluminum electrodes for high silica content produced water

One of the main challenges for the implementation of electrocoagulation (EC) in water treatment are fouling and passivation of the electrodes, especially for applications with high contaminant concentrations. For the first time, we investigated in this study the process of fouling mitigation by polarity reversal during the EC treatment of boiler blowdown water from oil-sands produced water, characterized by high silica concentrations (0.5-4 g L^-1). This effluent is typically obtained from an evaporative desalination process in oil production industries. Potentiodynamic characterisation was used to study the impact of passivation on the anode dissolution. Although a charge loading of 4,800 C L^-1 was found to remove about 98% of silica from a 1 L batch of 4 g L^-1 Si solution, fouling reduced the performance significantly to about 40% in consecutive cycles of direct current EC (DC-EC) treatment. Periodic polarity reversal (PR) was found to reduce the amount of electrode fouling. Decreasing the polarity period from 60 to 10 s led to the formation of a soft powdery fouling layer that was easily removed from the electrodes. In contrast, with DC operation, a hard scale deposit was observed. The presence of organics in the field samples did not significantly affect the Si removal, and organics with high levels of oxygen and sulfate groups were preferentially removed. Detailed electrochemical and economic investigations suggest that the process operating at 85 °C achieves 95% silica removal (from an initial concentration of 481 mg L^-1) with an electrical energy requirement of 0.52 kWh m^-3, based on a charge loading of 1,200 C L^-1, an inter-electrode gap of 1.8 cm and a current density of 16 mA cm^-2.

Evaluation of Pb, Mg, Al, Zn, and Cu as Electrode Materials in the Electrocoagulation of Microalgae

Apart from the conventionally used iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) electrodes in microalgae harvesting, experiments were designed to examine the viability of lead (Pb), magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) as electrode materials in the harvesting of microalgae. The effect of voltage on the flocculation efficiency (FE) of the electrode materials was examined and compared. By dividing the optimal FE values by their corresponding periods, a simple yet practical approach was used to rank the electrode materials. From highest to lowest flocculation efficiency, the results were as follows: Cu, Zn, Mg, Al, and Pb at 10 V; Mg, Zn, Cu, Al, and Pb at 20 V; and Mg, Zn, Al, Cu, and Pb at 30 V. Important factors such as temperature, periodic FE, consumption of electrode material, pH, and metallic concentrations in the effluent were evaluated. The temperature increase proposed to have been affected by electric resistance drop and anodic corrosion, between 1.7 °C and 3.3 °C, 5 °C and 8.9 °C, and 10.5 °C and 18.4 °C was recorded at 10 V, 20 V, and 30 V respectively. Except for the supernatants of the experiments from Al electrodes, which remained relatively unaffected by voltage and time, the pH of all the other supernatants increased with time and voltage. The effluents recorded metallic concentrations between 0.513 mg/L and 43.8 mg/L for Pb, 7.02 mg/L and 20.5 mg/L for Mg, 1.34 mg/L and 9.09 mg/L for Al, 0.079 mg/L and 0.089 mg/L for Zn, and 0.252 mg/L and 0.434 mg/L for Cu electrodes.

Mitigating Electrode Fouling in Electrocoagulation by Means of Polarity Reversal: The Effects of Electrode Type, Current Density, and Polarity Reversal Frequency

One of the biggest issues in electrocoagulation (EC) water treatment processes is electrode fouling, which can cause decreased coagulant production, increased ohmic resistance and energy consumption, and reduced contaminant removal efficiency, among other operational problems. While it has been suggested that switching the current direction intermittently (i.e., polarity reversal, PR) can help mitigate electrode fouling, conflicting results about the utility of this approach have been reported in the literature. The objective of this study was to systematically investigate the effects of PR frequency and current density on the performance of Fe-EC and Al-EC. It was found that operating Fe-EC under the PR mode reduced neither electrode fouling nor energy consumption. Notably, the Faradaic efficiency (ϕ) in Fe-EC decreased with increasing PR frequency; ϕ was as low as 10% when a PR frequency of 0.5 minutes was employed. Unlike Fe-EC, operating Al-EC under the PR mode resulted in high coagulant production efficiencies, reduced energy consumption, and diminished electrode fouling. In addition to comparing PR-EC and DC-EC, a novel strategy to minimize electrode fouling was investigated. This strategy involved operating Fe DC-EC and Al DC-EC with a Ti-IrO₂ cathode, whose fouling by Ca- and Mg-containing minerals could be readily avoided by periodically switching the current direction.

Electrode passivation, faradaic efficiency, and performance enhancement strategies in electrocoagulation-a review

Treating water and wastewater is energy-intensive, and traditional methods that require large amounts of chemicals are often still used. Electrocoagulation (EC), an electrochemical treatment technology, has been proposed as a more economically and environmentally sustainable alternative. In EC, sacrificial metal electrodes are used to produce coagulant in-situ, which offers many benefits over conventional chemical coagulation. However, material precipitation on the electrodes during long term operation induces a passivating effect that decreases treatment performance and increases power requirements. Overcoming this problem is considered to be the greatest challenge facing the development of EC. In this critical review, the studies that have examined the nature of electrode passivation, and its effect on treatment performance are considered. A fundamental approach is used to examine the association between passivation and faradaic efficiency, a surrogate for EC performance. In addition, the strategies that have been proposed to remove or avoid passivation are reviewed, including aggressive ion addition, AC current operation, polarity reversal, ultrasonication, and mechanical cleaning of the electrodes. It is concluded that the success of implementing each method is dependent on critical operating parameters, and careful consideration should be taken when designing an EC system based on the phenomena discussed in this article. In conclusion, this review provides insight into passivation mechanisms, delivers guidelines for sustaining high treatment performance, and offers an outlook for the future development of EC.

Adsorption of Organic Pollutants from Cold Meat Industry Wastewater by Electrochemical Coagulation: Application of Artificial Neural Networks

The cold meat industry is considered to be one of the main sources of organic pollutants in the wastewater of the meat sector due to the complex mixture of protein, fats, and dyes present. This study describes electrochemical coagulation (EC) treatment for the adsorption of organic pollutants reported in cold meat industry wastewater, and an artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to model the adsorption of chemical oxygen demand (COD). To depict the adsorption process, the parameters analyzed were current density (2–6 mA cm−2), initial pH (5–9), temperature (288–308 K), and EC time (0–180 min). The experimental results were fit to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations, while the modeling of the adsorption kinetics was evaluated by means of pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order rate laws. The data reveal that current density is the main control parameter in EC treatment, and 60 min are required for an effective adsorption process. The maximum removal of COD was 2875 mg L−1 (82%) when the following conditions were employed: pH = 7, current density = 6 mA cm−2, and temperature of 298 K. Experimental results obey second-order kinetics with values of the constant in the range of 1.176 × 10−5 ≤ k2 (mg COD adsorbed/g-Al.min) ≤ 1.284 × 10−5. The ANN applied in this research established that better COD removal, 3262.70 mg L−1 (93.22%) with R2 = 0.98, was found using the following conditions: EC time of 30.22 min, initial pH = 7.80, and current density = 6 mA cm−2. The maximum adsorption capacity of 621.11 mg g−1 indicates a notable affinity between the organic pollutants and coagulant metallic ions.

Effect of Chloride Ions on Electro-Coagulation to Treat Industrial Wastewater Containing Cu and Ni

A series of experiments with different NaCl concentrations added to the PCB (printed circuit board) wastewater were prepared to investigate the chloride effect on the formation of aluminum floc and removal efficiency of Cu and Ni. The effects of pH, current density, and different concentration of NaCl were studied and the results are discussed. Results imply that chloride ions are favored to avoid the passivation of the aluminum anode in the EC (electro-coagulation) system. Chloride ions used as the electrolyte can facilitate the release of Al3+, which results in the current efficiency of over 100% in the EC system. For the PCB factory’s wastewater, the EC system could remove Cu2+ and Ni2+ effectively (both Cu and Ni concentration of treated wastewater was less than 1.0 mg/L within three minutes). PCB wastewater’s pH value could maintain stably about 9.0 in the EC system when the initial pH value was around 2.5. The estimated electricity consumption for treating PCB wastewater by the EC process was about 0.894 kWh for each meter of cubic wastewater.

Storage of energy using a gas-liquid H2/Cl2 fuel cell: A first approach to electrochemically-assisted absorbers

In this work, the use in fuel cell mode of three electro-absorbers is evaluated for the chloralkaline process and performance is compared with that of a conventional PEMFC operated at the same operation conditions (room temperature). To do this, four cells have been in-house manufactured and compared, in order to determine which electrolyte (solution containing the active species or the membrane) is the best and which is the influence of the absorption stage on the operation of the cell. Because of the high solubility of chlorine, only the hydrogen absorption has been considered in order to evaluate relevant differences in the performance. Results demonstrate that design of the cell has a superb significance on the performances obtained. Cells with membrane-electrode assemblies are more efficient than those in which the membrane is used only as an electrodic compartment separator and utilization of devices which produce tiny bubbles of gas into the electrolyte is also very advantageous in order to obtain higher efficiencies. Results are of a great significance for the design of electro-absorbers and this paper is a first approach to face the design of reversible electrochemical cells for the chloralkaline process.

Removal of ciprofloxacin from aqueous solution by electro-activated persulfate oxidation using aluminum electrodes

The aim of this study was to determine the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) by the electro-persulfate (EC-PS) process using aluminum (Al) electrodes. The effects of variables including pH, contact time, PS concentration, initial CIP concentration and current density on the removal efficiency of CIP were studied. In order to determine the mechanisms of the EC-PS process, the radical scavenger tests, as well as energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were performed on the sludge. The results showed that the PS process alone had no effect on the CIP removal, and the EC process alone could remove 25% of CIP after 160 min. However, the EC-PS process under the optimum conditions: pH of 7, time of 40 min, current density of 2.75 mA/cm², CIP concentration of 20 mg/L, and PS concentration of 0.84 mM removed 90% of CIP. The effect of the EC-PS process on the actual hospital wastewater was 81% in optimal conditions. The kinetic study also showed that the second-order kinetic model was the most consistent. The oxidation process during the initial contact was dominant in the EC-PS process and, over time, the EC process was dominant for CIP removal.

Electrocoagulation of tetrafluoroborate (BF4-) and the derived boron and fluorine using aluminum electrodes

Tetrafluoroborate anion (BF₄^-) is found in the streams of flue-gas desulfurization and borosilicate glasses etching which deteriorates water quality through slow hydrolysis into boric acid and fluoride. Decomposition and electrocoagulation (EC) of BF₄^- were studied using metallic aluminum as the sacrificial electrode. The dissolved Al(III) from the anode could efficiently decompose BF₄^- in forms of fluoroaluminate complexes, and the derived boric acid and fluoride ion were removed by sweep flocculation. Major variables were investigated to optimize EC, including the reaction pH, initial concentration of BF₄^-, current density and electrolyte type. The mechanism of EC process was elucidated with the kinetics of consecutive reactions. Experimental results suggested that the removal of BF₄^- and total fluoride were less influenced by pH, and that of total boron reached a maximum at pH 8 which favored the surface complexation between borate species and EC precipitates. Under the conditions: [BF₄^-]₀ = 9.3 mM, [NaCl] = 10 mM, pH = 8.0, current density = 5 mA/cm², 98.3% of BF₄^- was decomposed and the removal of total fluoride and boron attained 98.2% and 74.1%, respectively within 3 h. EC using the Al electrode outperformed the conventional chemical coagulation and reduced the levels of BF₄, B(OH)₃ and F^- in aqueous solution synergically.

Application of response surface methodology as a new PID tuning method in an electrocoagulation process control case

In this work the application of response surface methodology (RSM) to proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller parameter tuning for electrocoagulation (EC) treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater was researched. Dynamic data for two controlled variables (pH and electrical conductivity) were obtained under pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) input signals applied to manipulated variables (acid and supporting electrolyte flow rates). Third order plus time delay model parameters were evaluated through System Identification Toolbox™ in MATLAB^®. Four level full factorial design was applied to form a design matrix for three controller tuning parameters as factors and to evaluate statistical analysis of the system in terms of integral of square error (ISE), integral of absolute error (IAE), integral of time square error (ITSE) and integral of time absolute error (ITAE) performance criteria as response. Numerical values of the responses for the runs in the design matrices were determined using closed-loop PID control system simulations designed in Simulink^®. Optimum proportional gain, integral action and derivative action values for electrical conductivity control were found to be 1,500 s, 0 s and 16.4636 s respectively. Accordingly, the same optimization scheme was followed for pH control and optimum controller parameters were found to be -8.6970 s, 0.0211 s and 50 s, respectively. Theoretically optimized controller parameters were applied to batch experimental studies. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency and energy consumption of pulp and paper mill wastewater treatment by EC under controlled action of pH at 5.5 and electrical conductivity at 2.72 mS/cm was found to be 85% and 3.87 kWh/m³ respectively. Results showed that multi input-multi output (MIMO) control action increased removal efficiency of COD by 15.41% and reduced energy consumption by 6.52% in comparison with treatment under uncontrolled conditions.

Optimization of paper mill industry wastewater treatment by electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton processes using response surface methodology

This study deals with chemical oxygen demand (COD), phenol and Ca⁺² removal from paper mill industry wastewater by electrocoagulation (EC) and electro-Fenton (EF) processes. A response surface methodology (RSM) approach was employed to evaluate the effects and interactions of the process variables and to optimize the performance of both processes. Significant quadratic polynomial models were obtained (R² = 0.959, R² = 0.993 and R² = 0.969 for COD, phenol and Ca⁺² removal, respectively, for EC and R² = 0.936, R² = 0.934 and R² = 0.890 for COD, phenol and Ca⁺² removal, respectively). Numerical optimization based on desirability function was employed; in a 27.55 min trial, 34.7% of COD removal was achieved at pH 9 and current density 96 mA/cm² for EC, whereas in a 30 min trial, 74.31% of COD removal was achieved at pH 2 and current density 96 mA/cm² and H₂O₂/COD molar ratio 2.0 for EF. The operating costs were calculated to be 6.44 €/m³ for EC and 7.02 €/m³ for EF depending on energy and electrode consumption at optimum conditions. The results indicate that the RSM is suitable for the design and optimization of both of the processes. However, EF process was a more effective technology for paper mill industry wastewater treatment as compared with EC.

Arsenic removal by electrocoagulation process: Recent trends and removal mechanism

Arsenic contamination in drinking water is a major issue in the present world. Arsenicosis is the disease caused by the regular consumption of arsenic contaminated water, even at a lesser contaminated level. The number of arsenicosis patients is increasing day-by-day. Decontamination of arsenic from the water medium is the only one way to regulate this and the arsenic removal can be fulfilled by water treatment methods based on separation techniques. Electrocoagulation (EC) process is a promising technology for the effective removal of arsenic from aqueous solution. The present review article analyzes the performance of the EC process for arsenic removal. Electrocoagulation using various sacrificial metal anodes such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, etc. is found to be very effective for arsenic decontamination. The performances of each anode are described in detail. A special focus has been made on the mechanism behind the arsenite and arsenate removal by EC process. Main trends in the disposal methods of sludge containing arsenic are also included. Comparison of arsenic decontamination efficiencies of chemical coagulation and EC is also reported.

A comprehensive review of electrocoagulation for water treatment: Potentials and challenges

Electrocoagulation is an effective electrochemical approach for the treatment of different types of contaminated water and has received considerable attention in recent years due its high efficiency in dealing with numerous stubborn pollutants. It has been successful in dealing with organic and inorganic contaminants with negligible or almost no generation of by-product wastes. During the past decade, vast amount of research has been devoted to utilizing electrocoagulation for the treatment of several types of wastewater, ranging from polluted groundwater to highly contaminated refinery wastewater. This paper offers a comprehensive review of recent literature that has been dedicated to utilizing electrocoagulation for water treatment, focusing on current successes on specific applications in water and wastewater treatment, as well as potentials for future applications. The paper examines such aspects as theory, potential applications, current challenges, recent developments as well as economical concerns associated with the technology. Most of the recent EC research has been focusing on pollutant-specific evaluation without paying attention to cell design, process modeling or industrial applications. This review attempts to highlight the main achievements in the area and outlines the major shortcomings with recommendations for promising research options that can enhance the technology and broaden its range of applications.

Removal of Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn Present in Aqueous Solution Using Coupled Electrocoagulation-Phytoremediation Treatment

This study presents the results of a coupled electrocoagulation-phytoremediation treatment for the reduction of copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc, present in aqueous solution. The electrocoagulation was carried out in a batch reactor using aluminum electrodes in parallel arrangement; the optimal conditions were current density of 8 mA/cm2 and operating time of 180 minutes. For phytoremediation the macrophytes, Typha latifolia L., were used during seven days of treatment. The results indicated that the coupled treatment reduced metal concentrations by 99.2% Cu, 81.3% Cd, and 99.4% Pb, while Zn increased due to the natural concentrations of the plant used.

Removal of Acid Black 194 dye from water by electrocoagulation with aluminum anode

Application of an electrocoagulation process (EC) for the elimination of AB194 textile dye from synthetic and textile wastewater (effluent) contaminated with AB194 dye, was carried out using aluminum anodes at two different initial pH values. Tafel studies in the presence and absence of the dye were performed. The aluminum species formed during the electrolysis were quantified by atomic absorption, and the flocs formed in the process were analyzed by HPLC-MS. Complete removal of AB194 from 1.0 L of solution was achieved applying low densities current at initial pH values of 4.0 and 8.0. The removal of AB194 by EC was possible with a short electrolysis time, removing practically 100% of the total organic carbon content and chemical oxygen demand. The final result was completely discolored water lacking dye and organic matter. An effluent contaminated with 126 mg L(-1) AB194 dye from a Chilean textile industry was also treated by EC under optimized experimental conditions, yielding discolored water and considerably decreasing the presence of organic compounds (dye + dyeing additives), with very low concentrations of dissolved Al(3+). Analysis of flocs showed the presence of the original dye without changes in its chemical structure.

Electrocoagulation and nanofiltration integrated process application in purification of bilge water using response surface methodology

Marine pollution has been considered an increasing problem because of the increase in sea transportation day by day. Therefore, a large volume of bilge water which contains petroleum, oil and hydrocarbons in high concentrations is generated from all types of ships. In this study, treatment of bilge water by electrocoagulation/electroflotation and nanofiltration integrated process is investigated as a function of voltage, time, and initial pH with aluminum electrode as both anode and cathode. Moreover, a commercial NF270 flat-sheet membrane was also used for further purification. Box-Behnken design combined with response surface methodology was used to study the response pattern and determine the optimum conditions for maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and minimum metal ion contents of bilge water. Three independent variables, namely voltage (5-15 V), initial pH (4.5-8.0) and time (30-90 min) were transformed to coded values. The COD removal percent, UV absorbance at 254 nm, pH value (after treatment), and concentration of metal ions (Ti, As, Cu, Cr, Zn, Sr, Mo) were obtained as responses. Analysis of variance results showed that all the models were significant except for Zn (P > 0.05), because the calculated F values for these models were less than the critical F value for the considered probability (P = 0.05). The obtained R(2) and Radj(2) values signified the correlation between the experimental data and predicted responses: except for the model of Zn concentration after treatment, the high R(2) values showed the goodness of fit of the model. While the increase in the applied voltage showed negative effects, the increases in time and pH showed a positive effect on COD removal efficiency; also the most effective linear term was found as time. A positive sign of the interactive coefficients of the voltage-time and pH-time systems indicated synergistic effect on COD removal efficiency, whereas interaction between voltage and pH showed an antagonistic effect.

Facile sand enhanced electro-flocculation for cost-efficient harvesting of Dunaliella salina

Energy consumption and water resource in the cultivation and harvesting steps still need to be minimized for the popularization of the microalgae-based products. An efficient electro-flocculation method for harvesting Dunaliella Salina integrated with local sand has been successfully applied. Sand was effective for speeding up the processes of flocculation and sedimentation of algal flocs and the electrolytic hydroxides was essential to bridge the sand and small flocs into large dense flocs. The maximal recovery effective improved from 95.13% in 6min to 98.09% in 4.5min and the optimal electrical energy consumption decreased 51.03% compared to conventional electro-flocculation in a laboratory ambient condition. Furthermore, reusing the flocculated medium in cultivation of the D. Salina with nitrogen supplemented performed no worse than using fresh medium. This sand enhanced electro-flocculation (SEF) technology provides a great potential for saving time and energy associated with improving microalgae harvesting.

Electrocoagulation of colloidal biogenic selenium

Colloidal elemental selenium (Se(0)) adversely affects membrane separation processes and aquatic ecosystems. As a solution to this problem, we investigated for the first time the removal potential of Se(0) by electrocoagulation process. Colloidal Se(0) was produced by a strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens and showed limited gravitational settling. Therefore, iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) sacrificial electrodes were used in a batch reactor under galvanostatic conditions. The best Se(0) turbidity removal (97 %) was achieved using iron electrodes at 200 mA. Aluminum electrodes removed 96 % of colloidal Se(0) only at a higher current intensity (300 mA). At the best Se(0) removal efficiency, electrocoagulation using Fe electrode removed 93 % of the Se concentration, whereas with Al electrodes the Se removal efficiency reached only 54 %. Due to the less compact nature of the Al flocs, the Se-Al sediment was three times more voluminous than the Se-Fe sediment. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test showed that the Fe-Se sediment released Se below the regulatory level (1 mg L(-1)), whereas the Se concentration leached from the Al-Se sediment exceeded the limit by about 20 times. This might be related to the mineralogical nature of the sediments. Electron scanning micrographs showed Fe-Se sediments with a reticular structure, whereas the Al-Se sediments lacked an organized structure. Overall, the results obtained showed that the use of Fe electrodes as soluble anode in electrocoagulation constitutes a better option than Al electrodes for the electrochemical sedimentation of colloidal Se(0).

Relative insignificance of virus inactivation during aluminum electrocoagulation of saline waters

Combined removal and inactivation of the MS2 bacteriophage from model saline (0-100 mM NaCl) waters by electrochemical treatment using a sacrificial aluminum anode was evaluated. Both chemical and electrodissolution contributed to coagulant dosing since measured aluminum concentrations were statistically higher than purely electrochemical predictions using Faraday's law. Electrocoagulation generated only small amounts of free chlorine in situ but effectively destabilized viruses and incorporated them into Al(OH)3(s) flocs during electrolysis. Low chlorine concentrations combined with virus shielding and aggregation within flocs resulted in very slow disinfection rates necessitating extended flocculation/contact times to achieve significant log-inactivation. Therefore, the dominant virus control mechanism during aluminum electrocoagulation of saline waters is "physical" removal by uptake onto flocs rather than "chemical" inactivation by chlorine. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy provided evidence for oxidative transformations of capsid proteins including formation of oxyacids, aldehydes, and ketones. Electrocoagulation significantly altered protein secondary structures decreasing peak areas associated with turns, bends, α-helices, β-structures, and random coils for inactivated viruses compared with the MS2 stock. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) measurements showed rapid initial RNA damage following a similar trend as plaque assay measurements of infectious viruses. However, ssRNA cleavage measured by qRT-PCR underestimated inactivation over longer durations. Although aluminum electrocoagulation of saline waters disorders virus capsids and damages RNA, inactivation occurs at a sufficiently low rate so as to only play a secondary role to floc-encapsulation during residence times typical of electrochemical treatment.

Multistep Optimization and Residue Disposal Study for Electrochemical Treatment of Textile Wastewater Using Aluminum Electrode

This paper reports multistep optimization studies on electrochemical (EC) treatment of textile wastewater containing three dyes namely basic orange 30, basic violet 16 and basic green 4 using an aluminum electrode. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color removal efficiencies were maximized in a batch EC experimental reactor. In first step, Plackett–Burman (PB) design was used to sort most effective factors amongst the various factors namely current density (j), time (t), electrode gap (g), temperature (T), initial pH (pHo) and NaCl salt concentration (m) that affected the removal efficiency. In the next step, steepest accent/descent method and Box–Behnken (BB) design methods were utilized to evaluate the optimum electrochemical conditions. In BB design, three operational parameters, namely j: 117.64–196.07 A/m2; t: 150–210 min and pHo: 3.5–5.5 were taken as input parameter whereas COD removal (Y1) and color removal (Y2) were taken as responses of the system. At the optimum operating conditions of j = 185.30 A/m2, t190 min and pHo 5, more than 70.5% COD and 98.2% color removal efficiencies were observed. Field emission scanning electron microscopy of aluminum electrodes, scum and sludge has been carried out to understand the EC mechanism.

Application of Electrocoagulation Process for Dairy Wastewater Treatment

Dairy industry wastewater is characterized by high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and other pollution load. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the operating parameters such as applied voltage, number of electrodes, and reaction time on a real dairy wastewater in the electrocoagulation process. For this purpose, aluminum electrodes were used in the presence of potassium chloride as electrolytes. It has been shown that the removal efficiency of COD, BOD5, and TSS increased with increasing the applied voltage and the reaction time. The results indicate that electrocoagulation is efficient and able to achieve 98.84% COD removal, 97.95% BOD5removal, 97.75% TSS removal, and >99.9% bacterial indicators at 60 V during 60 min. The experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of electrocoagulation techniques for the treatment of dairy wastewaters. Finally, the results demonstrated the technical feasibility of electrocoagulation process using aluminum electrodes as a reliable technique for removal of pollutants from dairy wastewaters.