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INTRODUCTION
Correspondence to: Vahid Khatibikamal, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: vahidkhatibi@ut.ac.ir
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate Faculty of
Environment, University of Tehran, Iran
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Experimentation
Experiments were conducted in a bipolar batch reactor with
two aluminum electrodes and a variable number of aluminum
plates. At the beginning of the experiment, the electrocoagulation
cell was thoroughly washed and rinsed with de-ionized water
followed by rinsing with the sample solution, and then a 1.5 L
sample was placed in the electrocoagulation cell. At the end
of each experiment, the solution was filtered through a 0.2 m
membrane filter before determination of the pH, COD, colour,
turbidity, detergent and phosphorous content. All experiments
were repeated twice and the experimental error was below 3%;
average data are reported.
Analysis
COD, detergent and phosphorus were measured according to
Standard Methods.26 Turbidity was recorded on a 2100N IS
Turbidimeter (Hach). The pH of the waste-water was measured
with a 720A pH meter (Orion). Colour was determined by dilution
and the UV-vis absorption scan (190350 nm) was obtained with
a UV-vis spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, Japan).
Mechanism of electrocoagulation
Electrocoagulation involves the processes of electrochemistry,
coagulation and hydrodynamics 27 and involves the creation of
metallic hydroxide flocs in the waste-water by electrodissolution
of soluble anodes, usually iron or aluminum. The electrical current
causes dissolution of the sacrificial metal anode and at appropriate
pH values the resulting metal ions form a wide range of coagulated
species and metal hydroxides that destabilize and aggregate
the suspended particles or precipitate and adsorb dissolved
contaminants28 thus purifying the polluted water and generating
gases, mainly hydrogen at the cathode.
In the case of aluminum, the main reactions are:
oxidation at the anode:
Al-3e Al3+
(1)
(2)
(3)
Al(OH)3 + OH Al(OH)
4
(4)
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Concentration
COD
(mg L1 )
Detergent
(mg L1 )
Colour
Turbidity
(NTU)
Phosphorous
(mg L1 )
Suspended solids
(mg L1 )
Lead
(mg L1 )
Zinc
(mg L1 )
4155
463
1430
245
27.6
987
4.35
3.2
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HCO
3 + OH CO3 + H2 O
Ca + CO2
3 CaCO3
Mg2+ + CO2
3 MgCO3
2+
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
HClO ClO + H
(9)
(10)
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Table 2. Removal efficiencies of COD, phosphorus, detergent, colour and turbidity as a function of voltage (two extra plates; distance between
plates, 1.5 cm)
COD removal (%)
Phosphorus removal
(%)
Detergent removal
(%)
Time (min)
10 V
20 V
30 V
10 V
20 V
30 V
10 V
20 V
30 V
10 V
20 V
30 V
10 V
20 V
30 V
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
0
41.4
52.7
56.1
61.4
66
67.3
0
47.1
67.2
73.2
79.5
82.1
82.7
0
79.7
81.6
88.6
89.3
89.8
89.9
0
39.1
55.1
69.2
79
76.8
81.2
0
43.5
54.7
73.6
84.1
87.3
88
0
53.6
66.3
83.3
88.4
90.6
90.9
0
34.3
44.7
51.2
55.9
60.7
62
0
47.1
67.2
73.2
79.5
82.1
82.7
0
59.8
75.8
89.6
93.3
95
95.5
0
33.1
42.4
48.1
55.4
61.4
65.3
0
49.4
56.6
71.2
78.9
80.1
81
0
69.1
73
85.2
88
93.1
94
0
26.7
45.7
51.4
57.2
62.1
65.4
0
47.3
63.4
69.1
70.8
74.1
75
0
88.4
91.4
92.8
94.4
96.7
97
dq
= k1 (qe q)
dt
(11)
(13)
(14)
(15)
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Adsorption kinetics
Contrary to conventional batch adsorption processes in which the
adsorption capacity and pollution concentration reach a maximum
simultaneously, in an electrocoagulation process the amount of
insoluble Al(OH)3 particles starts from zero. As stated earlier, in
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Table 3. Effect of distance between anode, cathode and extra plates on performance of electrocoagulation (two extra plates; voltage, 30 V)
COD removal (%)
Time
(min)
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
Phosphorus removal
(%)
Detergent removal
(%)
Turbidity removal
(%)
1.5 cm
3 cm
1.5 cm
3 cm
1.5 cm
3 cm
1.5 cm
3 cm
1.5 cm
3 cm
0
79.7
81.6
88.6
89.3
89.8
89.9
0
61.3
79.6
85.6
87.3
87.6
87.6
0
53.6
66.3
83.3
88.4
90.6
90.9
0
50.4
64.3
79.3
83.3
89.5
89.2
0
59.8
75.8
89.6
93.3
95
95.5
0
38.3
55.9
67.6
71.5
72.0
72.3
0
69.1
73
85.2
88
93.1
94
0
46.8
57.1
72.8
78.6
78.9
79.2
0
88.4
91.4
92.8
94.4
96.7
97
0
84.8
90.3
91.3
92.7
95.0
95.5
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Figure 4. Effect of varying number of extra plates on COD (a), phosphorus (b), detergent (c), colour (d), and turbidity (e) removal (voltage, 30 V; distance
between plates, 15 mm).
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Figure 5. Second-order kinetic model of COD (a), phosphorus (b), detergent (c) removal with electrolysis time (voltage, 30 V; distance between
plates, 15 mm).
Table 4. Comparison between calculated qe and K2 for COD, phosphorus and detergent in second-order adsorption isotherm (voltage, 30 V;
distance between plates, 15 mm)
Parameters
Kind of reactor
qe calculated (mg)
1282
3846
4000
K2 (g mg1 min1
R2
4.504 105
8.78 105
3.472 104
0.994
0.999
0.999
CO D
Monopolar
Bipolar (2 extra plates)
Bipolar (4 extra plates)
Phosphorus
Monopolar
Bipolar (2 extra plates)
Bipolar (4 extra plates)
18.2
30.3
28.6
2.189 103
2.051 103
1.1 102
0.969
0.993
0.999
Detergent
Monopolar
Bipolar (2 extra plates)
Bipolar (4 extra plates)
139.7
507.6
500
5.451 104
1.652 104
3.11 104
0.995
0.997
0.998
The plots of t/q versus time (t) (Fig. 5) are straight lines and the
values of qe and k2 were calculated from the slope and intercept
of these plots. Correlation coefficients for the second-order kinetic
model obtained in bipolar reactor studies were >0.96. Table 4
shows the computed results obtained and these indicate that the
adsorption system follows a second-order kinetic model. Also, it is
obvious that the kinetic of electrocoagulation is fast, so coagulant
generation and the adsorption of pollutants are started rapidly.
CONCLUSION
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