2261 Q IWA Publishing 2009 Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.

9 | 2009

Electrochemical treatment and operating cost analysis of

textile wastewater using sacrificial iron electrodes
M. Kobya, E. Demirbas and A. Akyol

ABSTRACT

Electrocoagulation (EC) method with iron electrode was used to treat the textile wastewater M. Kobya (corresponding author)
A. Akyol
in a batch reactor. Iron electrode material was used as a sacrificial electrode in monopolar Department of Environmental Engineering,
Gebze Institute of Technology,
parallel mode in this study. The removal efficiencies of the wastewater by EC were affected by Gebze 41400,
initial pH of the solution, current density, conductivity and time of electrolysis. Under the optimal Turkey
E-mail: kobya@gyte.edu.tr;
experimental conditions (initial pH 6.9, current density of 10 mA/cm2, conductivity of 3,990 mS/cm, abdakyol@gyte.edu.tr

and electrolysis time of 10 min), the treatment of textile wastewater by the EC process led E. Demirbas
Department of Chemistry,
to a removal capacity of 78% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 92% of turbidity. The energy Gebze Institute of Technology,
and electrode consumptions at the optimum conditions were calculated to be 0.7 kWh/kg COD Gebze 41400,
Turkey
(1.7 kWh/m3) and 0.2 kgFe/kg COD (0.5 kgFe/m3), respectively. Moreover, the operating cost E-mail: erhan@gyte.edu.tr

was calculated as 0.2 e/kg removed COD or 0.5 e/m3 treated wastewater. Zeta potential
measurement was used to determine the charge of particle formed during the EC which
revealed that Fe(OH)3 might be responsible for the EC process.
Key words | electrocoagulation, iron electrodes, operating cost, textile wastewater

INTRODUCTION

The textile industry consumes considerable amount of
water during dyeing and finishing processes. Textile
wastewaters are one of the significant pollutants for the
environment due to their characteristics such as high
chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration, strong
color, highly fluctuating pH and temperature, and low
biodegradability (ONeill et al. 1999). The textile wastewater
released into the ecosystem is a dramatic source of esthetic
pollution and perturbation in the aquatic life (Daneshvar
et al. 2003).
The electrocoagulation (EC) is considered to be an
effective tool for the treatment of textile wastewater with
high decolorization efficiency and with the formation of
relatively low amount of sludge (Mollah et al. 2004).
Electrocoagulation equipment is simple and easy to operate.
The EC is a process consisting of creating a floc of metallic
doi: 10.2166/wst.2009.672
hydroxides within the effluent to be cleaned by electro-
dissolution of soluble anodes and pollutants are removed by
surface complexation or electrostatic attraction (Mollah
et al. 2001; Daneshvar et al. 2006). Iron and aluminum are
generally used as sacrificial electrodes for the EC process.
EC has the advantage of removing small colloidal particles
which have a larger probability of being coagulated due to
the electric field that sets them in motion as compared with
coagulation. The advantage of EC over chemical coagu-
lation is that addition of excessive amount of coagulants can
be avoided because of their in situ generation by electro-
oxidation of a sacrificial anode. For that reason, cost for
the treatment by EC is lower than for chemical process. The
mechanism of removal of pollutants by EC process with
iron electrodes is shown below (Daneshvar et al. 2004).
 2262 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009

(a) Mechanism 1: (Chen et al. 2000), potato chips manufacturing wastewater

(Kobya et al. 2006), metal plating wastes (Barrera et al.
Anode : 4Fes ! 4Fe2 8e2 1
2003; Hermon et al. 2008), slaughterhouse effluent (Kobya
Bulk of solution : et al. 2006), yeast wastewater (Kobya & Delipinar 2008),
2 olive mill wastewaters (Tezcan Un et al. 2008), phosphate
4Fe2 10H2 O O2g ! 4FeOH3s 8H
removal from wastewater (Irdemez et al. 2006), arsenic
2 removal from water (Kumar et al. 2004) and removal of
Cathode : 8H 8e ! 4H2g 3
nitrate, sulfide, sulfate from water (Koparal & Ogutveren
Overall : 4Fe2 10H2 O O2g ! 4FeOH3s 4H2g 2002; Murugananthan et al. 2004) and so on.
4 The objective of the present study is to evaluate the
operating parameters such as pH, current density, conduc-
(b) Mechanism 2:
tivity and electrolysis time affecting EC efficiency on COD
Anode
and turbidity removals using iron as a sacrificial electrode
Fes ! Fe2 2e2 5 material. The corresponding electrode and energy con-
sumptions are also determined as principal cost parameters.
Fe2 2OH2 ! FeOH2s 6

Cathode

2H2 O 2e2 ! H2g 2OH2 7 EXPERIMENTAL

Overall Materials

Fes 2H2 O ! FeOH2s H2g
In the oxygenated water and at lower pH, Fe2 is easily
3 subsequent studies. The characteristics parameters of the
converted to Fe . The Fe(OH)n(s) remains in the
aqueous stream as a gelatinous suspension, which can
remove the pollutants from the wastewater by either
complexation or electrostatic attraction followed by
coagulation. Ferric ions generated by electrochemical
oxidation of iron electrode may form monomeric species,
Fe(OH)3 and polymeric hydroxyl complexes namely,
FeOH2 , FeOH 4 2 3
2 , Fe2 OH2 , FeOH4 , FeH2 O2 ,
FeH2 O3 2
6 , FeH2 O5 OH , FeH2 O4 OH2 , Fe2 H2 O8
OH4
2 and Fe2 H2 O6 OH2
4 etc. depending on the pH of
the aqueous medium. These hydroxides/polyhydroxides/
polyhydroxyoxide metallic compounds
affinity for dispersed particles as well as counter ions to
cause coagulation.
The electrocoagulation has been used successfully in the
separation of pollutants from textile wastewater (Shen et al.
2001; Bayramoglu et al. 2004; Can et al. 2006; Zaroual et al.
2006; Kabdasli et al. 2007; Malpass et al. 2008; Panizza &
Cerisola 2008; Radha et al. 2009; Zongo et al. 2009), tannery
wastewater (Feng et al. 2007), restaurant wastewater
8 The wastewater was obtained from a textile factory in
Gebze, Turkey. The wastewater was filtered using a screen
filter to remove large suspended solids prior to use for the
raw and treated wastewater such as pH, COD and total
organic carbon (TOC), total suspended solids (TSS),
conductivity and turbidity were measured (Table 1).
Experimental apparatus and procedure
A thermostated electrocoagulator having dimensions of
65 mm 65 mm 110 mm was made of polymethylmetha-
crylate. Two anodes and two cathodes with a dimension of
46 mm 55 mm 3 mm, made of iron plate (99.5% purity,
have strong Turkey), were connected to a digital dc power supply
(Topward 6306D; 30 V and 6 A) in monopolar parallel
mode and equipped with galvanostatic operational options
(Figure 1). The total effective electrode area was 152 cm2
and the space between electrodes was 11 mm.
The EC experiment was performed at a constant
temperature of 258C and a constant magnetic stirring
speed of 200 rpm. In each run, 250 mL of the wastewater
solution was placed into the electrolytic cell. The current
 2263 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater
Table 1 | Characteristics of the wastewater before and after the EC treatment
Parameters
pH
Conductivity (mS/cm)
COD (mg/L)
TOC (mg/L)
Turbidity (NTU)
TSS (mg/L)
p
ISKI (Istanbul Water and Sewage Administration), Official Gazette No. 1278 dated December 5, 2003.
density was adjusted to a desired value, and the experiment
was started. At the end of each run, the solution was filtered
with 0.45 mm Whatman filter paper (UK) and then the
filtrate was centrifuged at 2,000 rpm. Organic impurities on
electrode surfaces were removed by washing with acetone,
while the surface oxide layer was removed by a solution
prepared from mixing HCl (35%) and aqueous solution of
hexamethylenetetraamine (2.80%) (Do & Chen 1994).
Analytical method
All chemicals used were analytical grade and used without
any further treatment. Distilled water was used in all
experiments. COD, TOC, TSS and turbidity were deter-
mined according to the Standard Methods for Examination
of Water and Wastewater by American Public Health
Association (APHA 1998). CODs of the untreated and
treated samples were analyzed using a colorimetric method
(closed reflux) after digestion of the samples in a COD
reactor, model 45600 (HACH Co., USA). The COD of
Figure 1 | Experimental setup used in EC process.
Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009
Raw wastewater Treated wastewater Discharge Standards*
6.9 8.5 6 10
1,000 2350
3,635 800 600
1,650 310
5,150 155
1,215 55 350
samples was measured using a Perkin-Elmer Model Lamda
35 double beam spectrophotometer. The TOC concen-
tration was measured by a TOC analyzer (Teledyne Tekmar
Apollo 9000, USA) that utilized the UV-persulfate tech-
nique to convert the organic carbon for the subsequent
analysis by an infrared carbon dioxide analyzer calibrated
with the potassium hydrogen phthalate standard. Turbidity
(Nephelometric Turbidity Unit, NTU) was measured using
Mettler Toledo 8300 model turbitimeter (NEL, Turkey).
The pH was measured using AZ 8601 model pH meter
(Infotek, Turkey), and the conductivity was determined
with Lutron CD-4303 model conductivity meter (Taiwan).
The pH was adjusted to a desirable value using NaOH or
H2SO4. Zeta potential measurements were conducted using
zetameter (Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS, USA). All analyti-
cal measurements (COD, TOC, turbidity, conductivity, pH
and TSS) were done in triplicate.
Operating cost
The operating cost for the EC process includes material,
mainly electrodes and electrical energy costs, as well as
labor, maintenance, sludge dewatering and disposal, and
fixed costs. The latter costs items are largely independent of
the type of the electrode material (Bayramoglu et al. 2004;
Can et al. 2006). In this study, energy and electrode material
costs were taken into account as major cost items in the
calculation of the operating cost (e/kgCOD and e/m3 of
wastewater treated):
Operating cost aC energy bC electrode 9
where Cenergy and Celectrode (Equations 10 and 11) are
consumption quantities per kg of COD removed or per m3
 2264 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009

of wastewater treated. a and b given for Turkey market in

March 2009, are as follows: a electrical energy price
0.072 e/kWh; b electrode material price 0.85 e/kgFe. Costs
for electrical energy (kWh/kgCOD or kWh/m3) and
electrode (kgFe/m3) were calculated from the following
equations

U:I:tEC
C energy 10
v
ItEC M
C electrode 11
zFv

where U is cell voltage (V), tEC is the operating time (s),

v is the volume (m3) of the wastewater and z is number
of electron transferred (z 2).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results from effects of operating parameters including pH,

current density and electrolysis time to obtain the optimum
conditions for the dye removal were presented and
discussed in this section. The dye removal efficiency, h(%)
was expressed as a percentage and defined

C 0 2 C f
h% 100 12
C0

where C0 and Cf are initial and final dye concentrations

expressed in mg/L. Each experiment was replicated three
times, and the mean values were taken for calculations.
Maximum deviation was 3%.
Effect of pH
pH is an important operating factor influencing the
performance of the EC process (Chen et al. 2000; Kobya
et al. 2006). A series of experiments were carried out to
evaluate its effect, using solutions containing samples with
an initial pH in the range 3 11 at 10 mA/cm2 and 10 min of
electrolysis time, respectively. The removal efficiency as a
function of pH was shown in Figure 2a which showed that
the removal efficiency increased slowly with pH and it
remained almost unchanged between pH 7 8 for COD
(71 78%) and then on further increase of pH (9 11), the
removal efficiency decreased from 69 to 26%. There was
Figure 2 | Effect of initial pH (a) on the removal efficiency, (b) on the energy and
electrode consumptions for Fe electrode (conditions: current
density:10 mA/cm2, time:10 min, conductivity: 3,990 mS/cm).
maximum removal efficiency at the pH of 6.9, which was
almost neutral. The same trend was also observed for
turbidity removal. Therefore, it could be concluded that at
this pH, the majority of iron complexes (coagulants) were
formed and it was the optimum pH for carrying out the
(Daneshvar et al. 2003). From the Pourbaix diagram
(Pourbaix 1974), it can be deduced that the major complexes
formed at this pH are FeOH2 and FeOH
2 . A pH
increase occurred from 5.7 to 11.6 when the influent pH
was in the range 3 11. The increase in the pH during the
experiment could be interpreted in terms of the electro-
chemical and the chemical reactions that took place in the
EC reactor. Cathodic water reduction and the chemical
dissolution of iron electrode increased the pH value.
 2265 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009

The electrode and energy consumptions with respect to

initial wastewater pH values in the EC process were shown
in Figure 2b. The energy consumption values at pH 3 11
were 1.5 1.8 kWh/kgCOD and 0.9 1.8 kWh/m3. Values of
the electrode consumptions in the same pH range were
0.3 0.6 kWh/kgCOD and 0.5 0.6 kgFe/m3. This con-
clusion indicated that pH was very important parameter
as it affected the economic applicability of the EC process.

Effect of current density

The current density is one of the main operating parameters

which affect performance of the EC process and operating
cost. Figure 3a showed COD and turbidity removal
efficiencies at pH 6.9 and 10 min of electrolysis time as a
function of current density. The removal efficiencies at
current density in the range 5 20 mA/cm2 were increased
from 57 to 78% for COD and from 73 to 97% for turbidity,
respectively since the efficiencies of ion production on the
anode and cathode increased. It was further noted that
there were hardly any differences in COD and turbidity
removals at the higher current densities (10 20 mA/cm2).
It was needed to limit the current density in order to avoid
excessive oxygen evolution as well as to eliminate other
adverse effects, like heat generation (Mollah et al. 2004).
Therefore, 10 mA/cm2 was chosen as the current density in
our experiments. In addition, the energy and electrode
consumptions increased from 0.6 to 1.1 kWh/kgCOD and
from 0.1 to 0.4 kgFe/kgCOD with the increase in the Figure 3 | Effect of current density (a) on the removal efficiency, (b) on the energy and
electrode consumptions for Fe electrode (conditions: time:10 min, initial pH:
applied current density (Figure 3b). 6.9, conductivity: 3,990 mS/cm).
Faradays law describes the relationship between
current density and the amount of anode material that rate of bubble-generation increases and the bubble size
goes into the solution (Equation 13) decreases with increasing current density; both of these
trends are beneficial in terms of high pollutant-removal
MIt
C Fe 13 efficiency by H2 flotation (Daneshvar et al. 2003; Daneshvar
nFV
et al. 2004).
where M, I, t, n, F and V are the molecular weight of iron
(g/mol), the current (A), the electrolysis time (s), metal
valence (2 for Fe), Faraday constant (96,500 C/mol) and the
Effect of conductivity
working volume of effluent, respectively. Generally an
increase in current density causes the anodic oxidation to Textile wastewaters have a broad variation in conductivity
take place more readily, which in turn favors the formation due to the chemical substances added at a high concen-
of amorphous iron hydroxides species adequately in the tration from dyeing and finishing processes in the textile
vicinity of the electrode as well as in the bulk. Moreover, the industry. The higher conductivity increases current density
 2266 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater
for the same potential difference applied (Kobya et al. 2006).
The conductivity of the wastewater was adjusted to the
desired levels by adding an appropriate amount of NaCl to
the solutions as electrolyte. The effect of conductivity was
investigated between 1,000 4,000 mS/cm by using NaCl as
the supporting electrolyte. The removal efficiency and
cell voltage decreased steadily as conductivity increased
(Figure 4a). The percentage of removal efficiency for COD
was found to decrease from 78 to 64% with the addition of
more NaCl to the solution and hardly any changes were
observed for turbidity removal (97 99%). Increasing
solution conductivity from 1,000 to 4,000 mS/cm resulted
Figure 4 | Variation of (a) the removal efficiency and (b) the energy and electrode
consumptions for Fe electrode with the conductivity (conditions: current
density: 10 mA/cm2, time:10 min, initial pH: 6.9).
Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009
in the reduction of cell voltages from 10 to 4 V that caused a
decrease in electrical energy consumption (Figure 4b). The
decrease in the removal efficiency may be attributed to a
change in the ionic strength due to changing conductivity of
the aqueous medium. Figure 4b showed the effect of
wastewater conductivity on the energy and electrode
consumptions for Fe electrode. The energy consumptions
were decreased from 4.8 to 1.7 kWh/m3 and from 2.2 to
0.7 kWh/kgCOD with increasing conductivity from 1,000 to
4,000 mS/cm. The electrode consumption was hardly varied
in the same conductivity range.
Effect of electrolysis time
Electrolysis time influences the treatment efficiency of the
EC process. The removal efficiency of color depends
directly on the concentration of hydroxyl and metal ions
produced on the electrodes during the EC process. As seen
in Figure 5a, an increase in the electrolysis time from 5 to
10 min yielded an increase in the removal efficiencies
from 60 to 78% for COD and 76 to 97% for turbidity
and further electrogeneration of coagulant flocs had no
positive effect on the removal efficiencies. The optimum
electrolysis time for a solution having a current density of
10 mA/cm2 at pH 6.9 was chosen as 10 min since the
highest removal efficiencies were observed at this time.
The energy and electrode consumptions also increased
from 0.4 to 2 kWh/kgCOD and from 0.1 to 0.5 kgFe/
kgCOD with the increase in the electrolysis time in the
range 5 30 min (Figure 5b).
Determination of zeta potential
The measure of zeta potential evolution with time (at fixed
time of 10 min) and with potential (for an applied potential
of 10.0 V) were studied to determine the charge of particle
formed during the EC. The results in Figure 6a and 6b
showed that zeta potential of formed flocs was negative and
almost constant in all conditions. The wastewater solution
became green and bubbles of gas seen at cathode during the
EC process. The effluent became clear and a green and
yellow sludge was formed. The green and yellow colors
were attributed to Fe3 and Fe2 hydroxide. Zeta potential
measurements were also carried out at different pHs in
 2267 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009

experiments. The pH solution did not change during course

of the experiment since the EC exhibited some pH buffering
capacity which led to the formation of iron hydroxide (Holt
et al. 2002, 2005; Zaroual et al. 2006).

Figure 5 | Variation of (a) the removal efficiency and (b) the energy and electrode
consumptions for Fe electrode with the electrolysis time (conditions:
current density: 10 mA/cm2, initial pH: 6.9, conductivity: 3,990 mS/cm).

order to evaluate possible mechanism of removal of

pollutants, Fe2 and Fe3 (Figure 6c). The zeta potential
of Fe3 hydroxide was stable at pH value 2 10 and its
value was 2 3 mV. The zeta potential of Fe2 hydroxide was
more negative and the iso-electric point was observed at pH
6. As seen in the figure, the zeta potentials of Fe(OH)3 and
Fe(OH)2 were 2 3 mV and 2 38 mV. Fe2 is the common
ion generated in situ of electrolysis of iron. It has relatively
high solubility at acidic or neutral conditions and can be
oxidized easily into Fe3 by dissolved oxygen in water. The
probable formed flocs were Fe3 hydroxide since the zeta
potential of this precipitate remained the same at all Figure 6 | Variation of zeta potential with (a) time, (b) electrolysis potential and (c) pH.
 2268 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009

Figure 7 | Effect of electrocoagulation parameters (a) initial pH, (b) conductivity, (c) current density and (d) operating time on operating cost for treatment of textile wastewater.

Operating cost analysis of EC Residual sum of squares (r 2) and adjusted (r 2) were

0.70 and 0.56. This result indicated that relationships
The Figure 7a d represented the variation of operating
between operating cost and the operating parameters are
cost with pH, current density, conductivity and operating
nearly correlated each other.
time. For both current density and operating time, it
seemed that the operating cost was increased almost
linearly due to increase in consumption of electrical energy
as well as electrode material. The operating costs deter- CONCLUSIONS
mined from Figure 7a d were 0.5 0.6 e/m3 for pH 3 11,
The present paper dealt with treatment of the textile
0.50.7 e/m3 for conductivity (z) 1,035 3,990 mS/cm,
wastewater by the EC process using Fe electrode inserted
0.31.1 e/m3 for current density (CD) 5 20 mA/cm2 and
3 in the electrochemical cell for production of the coagulant
0.31.6 e/m for operating time (tEC) 5 30 min, respect-
in a batch reactor. Experimental runs were conducted to
ively. Operating cost expressed with polynomial regression
evaluate the effects of operating variables, initial pH of the
model based on the results in Figure 7a d was shown in
solution, current density, conductivity and electrochemical
Equation (14)
treatment time, on the process performances and to
determine the optimum operating ranges of those variables.
OC e=m3 0:828 2 0:184 pH 0:032 CD
The optimum operating conditions were found to be initial
2 0:00204 z 4:268 1025 tEC 14 pH of 6.9, current density of 10 mA/cm2, conductivity of
 2269 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater
3,990 mS/cm, and operating time of 10 min, respectively.
The removal efficiencies of COD and turbidity were
achieved as 78% and 97% at the optimum operating
conditions. Zeta potential measurement determined
that the probable formed flocs was Fe(OH)3 in the EC
process. The operating cost mainly involved energy and
electrode consumptions was calculated as 0.2 e/kg
3
removed COD or 0.5 e/m treated wastewater. The EC
method using iron electrode in this study was found to be
very successful to treat the textile wastewater in the
batch reactor.
REFERENCES
APHA 1998 Standard Methods for Examination of Water and
Wastewater. American Water Work Association, Washington
DC, USA.
Barrera-Diaz, C., Palomar-Pardave, M., Romero-Romo, M. &
Martinez, S. 2003 Chemical and electrochemical
considerations on the removal process of hexavalent
chromium from aqueous media. J. Appl. Electrochem. 33,
61 71.
Bayramoglu, M., Kobya, M., Can, O. T. & Sozbir, M. 2004
Operating cost analysis of electrocoagulation of textile dye
wastewater. Sep. Purif. Technol. 37, 117 125.
Can, O. T., Kobya, M., Demirbas, E. & Bayramoglu, M. 2006
Treatment of the textile wastewater by combined
electrocoagulation. Chemosphere 62, 181 187.
Chen, X., Chen, G. & Yue, P. L. 2000 Separation of pollutants
from restaurant wastewater by electrocoagulation. Sep. Purif.
Technol. 19, 65 76.
Daneshvar, N., Ashassi-Sorkhabi, H. & Tizpar, A. 2003
Decolorization of orange II by electrocoagulation method. Sep.
Purifi. Technol. 31, 153 162.
Daneshvar, N., Ashassi-Sorkhabi, H. & Kasiri, M. B. 2004
Decolorization of dye solution containing Acid Red 14 by
electrocoagulation with a comparative investigation of
different electrode connections. J. Hazard. Mater. B112,
55 62.
Daneshvar, N., Oladegaragoze, A. & Djafarzadeh, N. 2006
Decolorization of basic dye solutions by electrocoagulation: an
investigation of the effect of operational parameters. J. Hazard.
Mater. B129, 116 122.
Do, J. S. & Chen, M. L. 1994 Decolorization of dye-containig
solution by electrocoagulation. J. Appl. Electrochem. 24,
785 790.
Feng, J. W., Sun, Y. B., Zheng, Z., Zhang, J. B., Li, S. & Tian, Y. C.
2007 Treatment of tannery wastewater by electrocoagulation.
J. Environ. Sci. 19, 1409 1415.
Hermon, S., Grange, D., Pellet, Y., Lloret, G., Oyonarte, S., Bosch, F.
& Coste, M. 2008 Zero liquid discharge approach in plating
Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009
industry: treatment of degreasing effluents by
electrocoagulation and anodic oxidation. Water Sci. Technol.
58(3), 519 527.
Holt, P. K., Barton, G. W., Wark, M. & Mitchell, C. A. 2002
A quantitative comparison between chemical dosing and
electrocoagulation. Colloids Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp.
211, 233 248.
Holt, P. K., Barton, G. W. & Mitchell, C. A. 2005 The future for
electrocoagulation as a localised water treatment technology.
Chemosphere 59, 355 367.
Irdemez, S., Demircioglu, N. & Yildiz, Y. S. 2006 The effects of pH
on phosphate removal from wastewater by electrocoagulation
with iron plate electrodes. J. Hazard. Mater. B137, 1231 1235.
Kabdasli, I., Arslan-Alaton, I., Vardar, B. & Tunay, O. 2007
Comparison of electrocoagulation, coagulation and the fenton
process for the treatment of reactive dye bath effluent. Water
Sci. Technol. 55(10), 125 134.
Kobya, M. & Delipinar, S. 2008 Treatment of the bakers yeast
wastewater by electrocoagulation. J. Hazard. Mater. 154,
1133 1140.
Kobya, M., Demirbas, E., Can, O. T. & Bayramoglu, M. 2006
Treatment of levafix orange textile dye solution by
electrocoagulation. J. Hazard. Mater. 132, 183 188.
Kobya, M., Hiz, H., Senturk, E., Aydiner, C. & Demirbas, E. 2006
Treatment of potato chips manufacturing wastewater by
electrocoagulation. Desalination 190, 201 211.
Kobya, M., Senturk, E. & Bayramoglu, M. 2006 Treatment of
poultry slaughterhouse wastewaters by electrocoagulation.
J. Hazard. Mater. B133, 172 176.
Koparal, A. S. & Ogutveren, U. B. 2002 Removal of nitrate from
water by electroreduction and electrocoagulation. J. Hazard.
Mater. B89, 83 94.
Kumar, P. R., Chaudhari, S., Khilar, K. C. & Mahajan, S. P. 2004
Removal of arsenic from water by electrocoagulation.
Chemosphere 55, 1245 1252.
Malpass, G. R. P., Miwa, D. W., Machado, S. A. S. & Motheo, A. J.
2008 Decolourisation of real textile waste using
electrochemical techniques: effect of electrode composition.
J. Hazard. Mater. 156, 170 177.
Mollah, M. Y. A., Schennach, R., Parga, J. P. & Cocke, D. L. 2001
Electrocoagulation (EC) science and applications. J. Hazard.
Mater. B84, 29 41.
Mollah, M. Y. A., Pathak, S. R., Patil, P. K., Vayuvegula, M.,
Agrawal, T. S., Gomes, J. A. G., Kesmez, M. & Cocke, D. L.
2004 Treatment of orange II azo-dye by electrocoagulation
(EC) technique in a continuous flow cell using sacrificial iron
electrodes. J. Hazard. Mater. 109, 165 171.
Murugananthan, M., Bhaskar, G., Raju, G. & Prabhakar, S. 2004
Removal of sulfide, sulfate and sulfite ions by
electrocoagulation. J. Hazard. Mater. B109, 37 44.
ONeill, C., Hawkes, F. R., Hawkes, D. L., Lourenco, N. D.,
Pinheiro, H. M. & Delee, W. 1999 Colour in textile
effluents-sources, measurement, discharge consents and
simulation: a review. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 74,
1009 1018.
 2270 M. Kobya et al. | Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater
Panizza, M. & Cerisola, G. 2008 Removal of colour and COD from
wastewater containing acid blue 22 by electrochemical
oxidation. J. Hazard. Mater. 153, 83 88.
Pourbaix, M. 1974 Atlas of Electrochemical Equilibria in Aqueous
Solution, 2nd edition. Pergamon Press, Houston, TX.
Radha, K. V., Sridevi, V. & Kalaivani, K. 2009 Electrochemical
oxidation for the treatment of textile industry wastewater.
Biores. Technol. 100, 987 990.
Shen, Z., Wang, W., Jia, J., Ye, J., Feng, X. & Peng, A. 2001
Degradation of dye solution by an activated carbon fiber
electrode electrolysis system. J. Hazard. Mater. B84, 107 116.
Water Science & TechnologyWST | 60.9 | 2009
Tezcan Un, U., Altay, U., Koparal, A. S. & Ogutveren, U. B. 2008
Complete treatment of olive mill wastewaters by
electrooxidation. Chem. Eng. J. 139, 445 452.
Zaroual, Z., Azzi, M., Saib, N. & Chainet, E. 2006 Contribution to
the study of electrocoagulation mechanism in basic textile
effluent. J. Hazard. Mater. B131, 73 78.
Zongo, I., Maiga, A. H., Wethe, J., Valentin, G., Leclerc, J. P.,
Paternotte, G. & Lapicque, F. 2009 Electrocoagulation for the
treatment of textile wastewaters with Al or Fe electrodes:
compared variations of COD levels, turbidity and absorbance.
J. Hazard. Mater. 169, 70 76.