The investigation of parameters affecting boron removal by electrocoagulation method

Boron removal from wastewaters by electrocoagulation using aluminum electrode material was investigated in this paper. Several working parameters, such as pH, current density, boron concentration and type and concentration of supporting electrolyte were studied in an attempt to achieve a higher removal capacity. The experiments were carried out by keeping the pH of solution constant and optimum pH of solution was determined 8.0 for the aluminum electrode. Although energy consumption increased with decreasing boron concentration, which conductivity of these solutions were low, boron removal efficiency was higher at 100 mg/L than that of 1000 mg/L. Current density was an important parameter affecting removal efficiency. Boron removal efficiency and energy consumption increased with increasing current density from 1.2 to 6.0 mA/cm2. The types of different supporting electrolyte were experimented in order to investigate to this parameter effect on boron removal. The highest boron removal efficiency, 97%, was found by CaCl2. Added CaCl2 increased more the conductivity of solution according to other supporting electrolytes, but decreased energy consumption. The results showed to have a high effectiveness of the electrocoagulation method in removing boron from aqueous solutions.     

Optimization of Bomaplex Red CR-L dye removal from aqueous solution by electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes

In this paper, Taguchi method was applied to determine the optimum dye removal from aqueous solution by electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes. An orthogonal array (OA(16)) experimental design that allows to investigate the simultaneous variations of five parameters (initial dye concentration, initial pH of the solution, supporting electrolyte concentration, supporting electrolyte type and current density) having four levels was employed to evaluate the effects of experimental parameters. Performance measure analysis was followed by performing a variance analysis, in order to determine the optimum levels and relative magnitude of the effect of parameters. Because the desired characteristic for response has been maximum decolorization, Taguchi's 'the larger the better' performance formula was used. While the optimum conditions were found to be initial dye concentration of 100 mg/L, initial pH of the solution of 3, supporting electrolyte concentration of 0.0 mM, supporting electrolyte type of CaCl(2) and current density of 0.50 mA/cm(2). Under these optimum conditions, energy consumption is 0.607 kWh/kg dye, when the system evaluated also based on the energy consumptions it can be said that optimum conditions should be modified as follows: supporting electrolyte concentration of 2.5 mM; supporting electrolyte type NaCl, for 100 mg/L initial dye concentration; initial pH of the solution of 3; current density of 0.50 mA/cm(2).     

Electrochemical removal of indium ions from aqueous solution using iron electrodes

The removal of indium ions from aqueous solution was carried out by electrocoagulation in batch mode using an iron electrode. Various operating parameters that could potentially affect the removal efficiency were investigated, including the current density, pH variation, supporting electrolyte, initial concentration, and temperature. The optimum current density, supporting electrolyte concentration, and temperature were found to be 6.4 mA/cm², 0.003N NaCl, and 298 K, respectively. When the pH values lower than 6.1, the removal efficiencies of indium ions via electrocoagulation were up to 5 times greater than those by adding sodium hydroxide. The indium ion removal efficiency decreased with an increase in the initial concentration. Results for the indium ion removal kinetics at various current densities show that the kinetic rates conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with good correlation. The experimental data were also tested against different adsorption isotherm models for describing the electrocoagulation process. The adsorption of indium ions preferably fitting the Langmuir adsorption isotherm suggests monolayer coverage of adsorbed molecules.     

Boron removal from geothermal waters by electrocoagulation

Most of the geothermal waters in Turkey contain extremely high concentration of boron when they are used for irrigation. The use of geothermal waters for irrigation can results in excess amount deposition of boron in soil. On the other hand, a minimal boron concentration is required for irrigational waters. In this study, electrocoagulation (EC) was selected as a treatment process for the removal of boron from thermal waters obtained from Ilica-Erzurum in Turkey. Current density (CD), pH of solution and temperature of solution were selected as operational parameters. The results showed that boron removal efficiency increased from pH 4.0 to 8.0 and decreased at pH 10.0. Although boron removal efficiency was highest at pH 8.0, energy consumption was very high at this pH value compared to other pH intervals. Boron removal efficiency reached to 95% with increasing current density from 1.5 to 6.0 mA/cm(2), but energy consumption was also increased in this interval. At higher temperatures of solution, such as 313 and 333 K, boron removal efficiency increased. At optimum conditions, boron removal efficiency in geothermal water reached up to 95%.     

A quantitative comparison between electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation for boron removal from boron-containing solution

This paper provides a quantitative comparison of electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation approaches based on boron removal. Electrocoagulation process delivers the coagulant in situ as the sacrificial anode corrodes, due to a fixed current density, while the simultaneous evolution of hydrogen at the cathode allows for pollutant removal by flotation. By comparison, conventional chemical coagulation typically adds a salt of the coagulant, with settling providing the primary pollutant removal path. Chemical coagulation was carried out via jar tests using aluminum chloride. Comparison was done with the same amount of coagulant between electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation processes. Boron removal obtained was higher with electrocoagulation process. In addition, it was seen that chemical coagulation has any effect for boron removal from boron-containing solution. At optimum conditions (e.g. pH 8.0 and aluminum dose of 7.45 g/L), boron removal efficiencies for electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation were 94.0% and 24.0%, respectively.     

The decolorization of C.I. Reactive Black 5 in aqueous solution by electrocoagulation using sacrificial iron electrodes

The removal of color from synthetic wastewater containing Reactive Black 5 was experimentally investigated using direct current electrocoagulation at iron electrodes. The effects of operational parameters such as current density, initial pH, electrolysis time, initial dye concentration and solution conductivity on color removal efficiency were investigated in this study. The optimum operating range for each of these operating variables was experimentally determined. The experimental results show that the color of Reactive Black 5 in the aqueous phase was removed effectively. Under the conditions of an initial dye concentration of 100 mg L(-1), initial pH of 5, current density of 4.575 mAcm(-2), salt concentration of 3000 mg L(-1), temperature of 20 degrees C, and interelectrode distance of 2.5 cm, the color removal efficiency reached 98.8%. Electrical energy consumption in the above conditions for the decolorization of the dye solution containing Reactive Black 5 was 4.96 kWh/kg dye. Results show that the first-order rate equation provides the best correlation for the decolorization rate of Reactive Black 5.     

Electrochemical oxidation of phenol in a parallel plate reactor using ruthenium mixed metal oxide electrode

In this study, electrochemical oxidation of phenol was carried out in a parallel plate reactor using ruthenium mixed metal oxide electrode. The effects of initial pH, temperature, supporting electrolyte concentration, current density, flow rate and initial phenol concentration on the removal efficiency were investigated. Model wastewater prepared with distilled water and phenol, was recirculated to the electrochemical reactor by a peristaltic pump. Sodium sulfate was used as supporting electrolyte. The Microtox bioassay was also used to measure the toxicity of the model wastewater during the study. As a result of the study, removal efficiency of 99.7% and 88.9% were achieved for the initial phenol concentration of 200 mg/L and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 480 mg/L, respectively. In the same study, specific energy consumption of 1.88 k Wh/g phenol removed and, mass transfer coefficient of 8.62 x 10(-6)m/s were reached at the current density of 15 mA/cm(2). Electrochemical oxygen demand (EOD), which can be defined as the amount of electrochemically formed oxygen used for the oxidation of organic pollutants, was 2.13 g O(2)/g phenol. Electrochemical oxidation of petroleum refinery wastewater was also studied at the optimum experimental conditions obtained. Phenol removal of 94.5% and COD removal of 70.1% were reached at the current density of 20 mA/cm(2) for the petroleum refinery wastewater.     

Decolorization of C.I. Acid Yellow 23 solution by electrocoagulation process: investigation of operational parameters and evaluation of specific electrical energy consumption (SEEC)

This study investigates the evaluation of specific electrical energy consumption (SEEC) and the influence of operating parameters on the color removal efficiency of a dye solution containing C.I. Acid Yellow 23 by electrocoagulation process. Firstly, the operational parameters including current density, initial dye concentration, initial pH and time of electrolysis were optimized. Then the effects of the conductivity, the interelectrode distance and the area of cross-section of the electrodes on specific electrical energy consumption (SEEC) were studied under the optimum conditions. Our results indicated that for a solution of 50mg/l C.I. Acid Yellow 23, almost 98% color and 69% chemical oxygen demand (COD) were removed, when the pH was about 6, the time of electrolysis was 5min and the current density was approximately 112.5A/m(2). In addition, the results of our study revealed that when the conductivity and area of cross-section of the electrodes increased and interelectrode distance decreased, the cell voltage and specific electrical energy consumption would be decreased.     

Electrochemical removal of phenol from oil refinery wastewater

This study explores the possibility of using electrocoagulation to remove phenol from oil refinery waste effluent using a cell with horizontally oriented aluminum cathode and a horizontal aluminum screen anode. The removal of phenol was investigated in terms of various parameters namely: pH, operating time, current density, initial phenol concentration and addition of NaCl. Removal of phenol during electrocoagulation was due to combined effect of sweep coagulation and adsorption. The results showed that, at high current density and solution pH 7, remarkable removal of 97% of phenol after 2h can be achieved. The rate of electrocoagulation was observed to increase as the phenol concentration decreases; the maximum removal rate was attained at 30 mg L(-1) phenol concentration. For a given current density using an array of closely packed Al screens as anode was found to be more effective than single screen anode, the percentage phenol removal was found to increase with increasing the number of screens per array. After 2h of electrocoagulation, 94.5% of initial phenol concentration was removed from the petroleum refinery wastewater. Energy consumption and aluminum Electrode consumption were calculated per gram of phenol removed. The present study shows that, electrocoagulation of phenol using aluminum electrodes is a promising process.     

Electrochemical degradation and toxicity reduction of C.I. Basic Red 29 solution and textile wastewater by using diamond anode

Electrochemical oxidation of Basic Red 29 (BR29) was studied in a bipolar trickle tower (BTT) reactor by using Raschig ring shaped boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes, which were originally employed by the present researchers, in a recirculated batch mode. The model solution was prepared with BR29 using distilled water. The effects of initial dye concentration, Na(2)SO(4) concentration as supporting electrolyte, current density, flow rate and initial pH on the removal efficiency were investigated, and practically, complete BR29 removal (over 99%) was obtained in all the studies. After optimum experimental conditions were determined, textile wastewater has also studied by monitoring the destruction of color and COD. With the textile wastewater, 97.2% of color and 91% of COD removal were, respectively, achieved at the current density of 1mA/cm(2). Microtox toxicity tests were performed in both BR29 solution and textile wastewater under optimum experimental conditions, and relatively good toxicity reductions were obtained with respect to the initial values. According to the results, BDD anode was seen to be a unique material for the degradation of BR29 and COD and also the reduction of toxicity simultaneously.     

Treatment of dairy wastewaters by electrocoagulation using mild steel electrodes

The removal of COD and oil-grease from dairy wastewater was experimentally investigated using direct current (DC) electrocoagulation (EC). In the EC of dairy wastewater, the effects of initial pH, electrolysis time, initial concentration of COD, conductivity and current density were examined. The COD and oil-grease in the aqueous phase were effectively removed when iron was used as sacrificial anode. The optimum operating range for each operating variable was experimentally determined. The batch experimental results revealed that COD and oil-grease in aqueous phase was effectively removed. The overall COD and oil-grease removal efficiencies reached 98 and 99%, respectively. The optimum current density, pH and electrolysis time for 18,300 mg COD/L and 4570 mg oil-grease/L were 0.6 mA/cm2, 7 and 1 min, respectively. Mean energy consumption was 0.003 kWh/kg of COD.     

The use of artificial neural networks (ANN) for modeling of decolorization of textile dye solution containing C. I. Basic Yellow 28 by electrocoagulation process

In this paper, electrocoagulation has been used for removal of color from solution containing C. I. Basic Yellow 28. The effect of operational parameters such as current density, initial pH of the solution, time of electrolysis, initial dye concentration, distance between the electrodes, retention time and solution conductivity were studied in an attempt to reach higher removal efficiency. Our results showed that the increase of current density up to 80 Am(-2) enhanced the color removal efficiency, the electrolysis time was 7 min and the range of pH was determined 5-8. It was found that for achieving a high color removal percent, the conductivity of the solution and the initial concentration of dye should be 10 mS cm(-1) and 50 mg l(-1), respectively. An artificial neural networks (ANN) model was developed to predict the performance of decolorization efficiency by EC process based on experimental data obtained in a laboratory batch reactor. A comparison between the predicted results of the designed ANN model and experimental data was also conducted. The model can describe the color removal percent under different conditions.     

Oxidation of various reactive dyes with in situ electro-generated active chlorine for textile dyeing industry wastewater treatment

The present investigation revealed that all the reactive dyes were degraded in chlorine mediated electrochemical oxidation. Titanium based dimensionally stable anode (DSA) was used for in situ generation of chlorine in the dye solution. All classes of reactive dyes (100 mg/L) showed a complete color removal at a supporting electrolyte concentration of 1.5 g/L NaCl and 36.1 mA/cm(2) current density. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) removals were from 39.5 to 82.8% and from 11.3 to 44.7%, respectively, for different reactive dyes. It can be concluded in general that the triazine containing higher molecular weight diazo compounds takes more time for complete de-colorization than the mono azo or anthraquinone containing dye compounds. The degradation rate of mixed dye compounds was affected by reaction temperature, current density, NaCl concentration and initial dye concentration. However, the initial pH of the dye solution ranging from 4.3 to 9.4 did not show significant effect on de-colorization. A complete color removal with 73.5% COD and 32.8% TOC removals were obtained for mixed reactive dyes (200 mg/L) at the end of 120 min of electrolysis under the optimum operating conditions of 4 g/L NaCl concentration and 72.2 mA/cm(2) current density.     

Removal of boron from aqueous solutions by batch adsorption on calcined alunite using experimental design

In the present paper, boron removal from aqueous solutions by batch adsorption was investigated and 2(3) full factorial design was applied. Calcined alunite was used as adsorbent. In the study, three parameters affected the performance and two levels of these parameters were investigated. The chosen parameters were temperature (25 and 45 degrees C, respectively), pH (3 and 10) and mass of adsorbent (0.5 g adsorbent per 25 mL solution and 1g adsorbent per 25 mL solution). The significance of the effects was checked by analysis of variance (statistical software, MINITAB-Version 15). The model-function equation for boron adsorption on calcined alunite was obtained. The results showed that temperature, pH and mass of adsorbent affected boron removal by adsorption. Boron removal increased with increasing pH and adsorbent dosage, but decreased with increasing temperature. The optimum conditions were found as pH 10, adsorbent dosage=1g of calcined alunite per 25 mL solution and temperature=25 degrees C by using factorial design. In addition, the effects of parameters such as calcination temperature, pH, temperature, adsorbent dosage and initial boron concentration on boron removal were investigated. The adsorption isotherm studies were also performed. Maximum adsorbent capacity (q(0)) was calculated as 3.39 mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters such as change in free energy (DeltaG degrees), enthalpy (DeltaH degrees) and entropy (DeltaS degrees) were also determined.     

An investigation on the new operational parameter effective in Cr(VI) removal efficiency: a study on electrocoagulation by alternating pulse current

The performance of an electrocoagulation (EC) process with aluminum/iron electrodes for removal of chromium on laboratory scale was studied. The effect of operational parameters such as initial pH, current density (CD), reaction time, initial concentrations (50, 100, 500, 1000 mg/L), solution conductivity, electrical energy consumption (EEC) and type of circuit were studied in an attempt to reach higher Cr(VI) removal efficiency. Alternating pulse current (APC) was used to prevent the passivity or polarization of electrodes. Important operating parameters were optimized to access higher (99%) Cr(VI) removal efficiency as follows: EEC range: 4-58 kW h/m(3) wastewater, CD: 56-222 A/m(2), operating time: 20-110 min, pH 3-9 (pH(optimum) 5), voltage: 15-25 V. NaCl, KCl, PAC (poly aluminum chloride), NaNO(3) were used as supporting electrolytes. NaCl as well as KCl handled the EC with the best performance in every aspect; however, PAC and NaNO(3) did not have the same results (Applied conductivity is better than literature). The results of this work are comparable with those of recent studies. Equal removal efficiency was obtained in "direct current" (DC) and (APC); however, when "APC" was used, water recovery (0.92 m(3)/m(3) wastewater) was significant and the turbidity was 1 NTU. "APC" amazed our experimental team.     

Decolorization of basic dye solutions by electrocoagulation: an investigation of the effect of operational parameters

Electrocoagulation (EC) is one of the most effective techniques to remove color and organic pollutants from wastewater, which reduces the sludge generation. In this paper, electrocoagulation has been used for the removal of color from solutions containing C. I. Basic Red 46 (BR46) and C. I. Basic Blue 3 (BB3). These dyes are used in the wool and blanket factories for fiber dyeing. The effect of operational parameters such as current density, initial pH of the solution, time of electrolysis, initial dye concentration and solution conductivity were studied in an attempt to reach higher removal efficiency. The findings in this study shows that an increase in the current density up to 60-80 A m(-2) enhanced the color removal efficiency, the electrolysis time was 5 min and the range of pH was determined between 5.5 and 8.5 for two mentioned dye solutions. It was found that for, the initial concentration of dye in solutions should not be higher than 80 mg l(-1) in order to achieve a high color removal percentage. The optimum conductivity was found to be 8 mS cm(-1), which was adjusted using proper amount of NaCl with the dye concentration of 50 mg l(-1). Electrical energy consumption in the above conditions for the decolorization of the dye solutions containing BR46 and BB3 were 4.70 kWh(kgdye removed)(-1) and 7.57 kWh(kgdye removed)(-1), respectively. Also, during the EC process under the optimized conditions, the COD decreased by more than 75% and 99% in dye solutions containing BB3 and BR46, respectively.     

Treatment of pulp and paper industry bleaching effluent by electrocoagulant process

The experiments were carried out in an electrocoagulation reactor with aluminum as sacrificial electrodes. The influence of electrolysis time, current density, pH, NaCl concentration, rotational speed of the stirrer and electrode distance on reduction of color, COD and BOD were studied in detail. From the experimental results, 15 mA/cm(2) current density, pH of 7, 1 g/l NaCl, 100 rpm, 28°C temperature and 3 cm electrode distance were found to be optimum for maximum reduction of color, COD and BOD. The reduction of color, COD and BOD under the optimum condition were found to be 94%, 90% and 87% respectively. The electrode energy consumption was calculated and found to be varied from 10.1 to 12.9 kWh/m(3) depending on the operating conditions. Under optimal operating condition such as 15 mA/cm(2) current density, pH of 7, 1 g/l NaCl, 100 rpm, 28°C temperature and 3 cm electrode distance, the operating cost was found to be 1.56 US $/m(3). The experimental results proved that the electrocoagulation is a suitable method for treating bleaching plant effluents for reuse.     

Electrochemical degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in creosote solution using ruthenium oxide on titanium expanded mesh anode

In this study, expanded titanium (Ti) covered with ruthenium oxide (RuO(2)) electrode was used to anodically oxidize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in creosote solution. Synthetic creosote-oily solution (COS) was prepared with distilled water and a commercial creosote solution in the presence of an amphoteric surfactant; Cocamidopropylhydroxysultaine (CAS). Electrolysis was carried out using a parallelepipedic electrolytic 1.5-L cell containing five anodes (Ti/RuO(2)) and five cathodes (stainless steel, 316 L) alternated in the electrode pack. The effects of initial pH, temperature, retention time, supporting electrolyte, current density and initial PAH concentration on the process performance were examined. Experimental results revealed that a current density of 9.23 mA cm(-2) was beneficial for PAH oxidation. The sum of PAH concentrations for 16 PAHs could be optimally diminished up to 80-82% while imposing a residence time in the electrolysis cell of 90 min. There was not a significant effect of the electrolyte (Na(2)SO(4)) concentration on oxidation efficiency in the investigated range of 500-4000 mg/L. However, an addition of 500 mg Na(2)SO(4)L(-1) was required to reduce the energy consumption and the treatment cost. Besides, there was no effect of initial PAH concentration on oxidation efficiency in the investigated range of 270-540 mg PAHL(-1). Alkaline media was not favourable for PAH oxidation, whereas high performance of PAH degradation could be recorded without initial pH adjustment (original pH around 6.0). Likewise, under optimal conditions, 84% of petroleum hydrocarbon (C(10)-C(50)) was removed, whereas removal yields of 69% and 62% have been measured for O&G and COD, respectively. Microtox and Daphnia biotests showed that electrochemical oxidation using Ti/RuO(2) could be efficiently used to reduce more than 90% of the COS toxicity.     

Treatment of levafix orange textile dye solution by electrocoagulation

The decolorization of the levafix orange textile dye in aqueous solution by electrocoagulation using aluminum sacrificial anode has been investigated. The process performance is analyzed in terms of decolorization efficiency and the important cost-related parameters such as electrode and energy consumptions, as a function of initial pH, conductivity, current density, initial dye concentration and electrolysis time. The present study proves the effectiveness of electrochemical treatment for the textile dye solution. 95% decolorization efficiency may be obtained at suitable operating conditions such as; current density 100 A/m(2), operating time 12 min and initial pH 6.4. The corresponding electrode and energy consumptions during the electrolysis were found to be 1.8 kg Al/kg dye and 35 k Wh/kg dye.     

Use of adsorption using granular activated carbon (GAC) for the enhancement of removal of chromium from synthetic wastewater by electrocoagulation

The present work deals with removal of hexavalent chromium from synthetic effluents in a batch stirred electrocoagulation cell with iron-aluminium electrode pair coupled with adsorption using granular activated carbon (GAC). Several working parameters such as pH, current density, adsorbent concentration and operating time were studied in an attempt to achieve higher removal capacity. Results obtained with synthetic wastewater revealed that most effective removal capacities of chromium (VI) could be achieved when the initial pH was near 8. The removal of chromium (VI) during electrocoagulation, is due to the combined effect of chemical precipitation, coprecipitation, sweep coagulation and adsorption. In addition, increasing current density in a range of 6.7-26.7mA/cm2 and operating time from 20 to 100min enhanced the treatment rate to reduce metal ion concentration below admissible legal levels. The addition of GAC as adsorbent resulted in remarkable increase in the removal rate of chromium at lower current densities and operating time, than the conventional electrocoagulation process. The method was found to be highly efficient and relatively fast compared to existing conventional techniques.