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Abstract
The aim of the present work was to investigate experimentally the reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) levels from
bakers yeast wastewater (BYW) using batch electrocoagulation (EC) treatment process. An electrocoagulation unit with six iron
electrodes was designed to achieve this treatment task. The effect of several operational parameters including pH, direct current
(DC) density (I), mixing speed (MS), and temperature (T) on the performance of EC process was studied. The results indicated
that the maximum removal efficiency of the COD was up to 85%. The visual test showed that the electrocoagulation process was
able to remove completely the dark brown color of bakers yeast wastewater. The corresponding electrical energy and electrode
consumption per kg COD removed was around 0.493 kWh and 2.956 kg iron, respectively. In addition, it was demonstrated that
the reduction rate of COD follows the first-order model whose kinetic parameter, k, depends strongly on the DC current density
according to a power law relation.
Key words: Bakers yeast wastewater, COD kinetics, electrocoagulation, iron electrodes, wastewater treatment
Received: July, 2014; Revised final: September, 2014; Accepted: September, 2014
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COD reduction of baker's yeast wastewater using batch electrocoagulation
removal of BYW emulsions using order to study the effect of solution acidity on the
electrocoagulation. For this reason, the present work COD reduction, the pH was regulated using either
was devoted to investigate such important issues. In 0.1 M NaOH or 0.1 M H2SO4. The pH was measured
addition, the effect of other parameters such as pH, using 3151 MWT pH meter. In the parametric study
current density, and EC time on the EC treatment of current density, pH, EC time, and mixing speed,
efficiency was also taken into account. In the absence the operating temperature was kept at 40 1 oC.
of clear understanding of the kinetic While in investigating the effect of temperature on
mechanism for BYW emulsion break-up and COD the EC performance, the temperature was varied in
removal by electrocoagulation, the experimental data the range between 20 and 60oC. Dilute HCl was used
were used to explore the COD reduction rate to wash the electrocoagulation unit between the
equation. experimental runs, followed by washing using
distilled water. After terminating each run, the treated
2. Materials and methods solution was filtrated using filtration papers (0.45
m, Millipore, USA). Samples of the filtrate solution
In this experimental work, the bakers yeast were used to measure residual COD.
wastewater (BYW) solution was collected from the
yeast production company, ASTRICO, Al-Rusaifah,
Zarqa, Jordan. Values of COD concentration, total
solid concentration, electrical conductivity, and pH
and color of this BYW are given in Table 1. The
bakers yeast wastewater solution was filtered using
filter paper to remove any suspended solids. The
filtered solution was subjected to dilution in order to
get stock solution with COD of 12 g/L for further
use. The COD of treated and untreated wastewater
was determined according to the standard methods
(APHA, 1998).
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Al-Shannag et al./Environmental Engineering and Management Journal 13 (2014), 12, 3153-3160
where COD0 is the initial concentration (g/L) in the The experimental results are shown in Fig.
BYW stock solution before electrocoagulation 3. It can be observed in Fig 3(a) that COD
process and COD is the corresponding concentration concentration decreases as EC time increases until
(g/L) after terminating the electrocoagulation approaching around steady state value after about 60
experiment. minutes. This is attributed to the fact that the EC time
The COD concentration and the estimated current affects the amount of ferrous ions produced at
maximum removal efficiency resulted after 60 the anode.
minutes EC treatment were plotted against the As the duration of EC treatment increases,
corresponding pH values as shown in Fig. 2. It is more iron dissolves from the anode and consequently
evident from Fig. 2 that the minimum COD the available amount of particulate flocs increases to
concentration and the corresponding maximum COD remove more COD. Fig. 3(b) shows plots of the COD
removal occur at pH=7. At this pH value, the COD concentration and its percentage removal against the
value and the % removal were 2.20 g/L and 81.7%, current density resulted from 60 minutes EC
respectively. For strongly acidic (pH=3) and alkaline treatment. It can be seen in the figure that residual
medium (pH=9), the COD values were 5.7 and 4.8 COD concentration decreases and the corresponding
g/L and the corresponding percentage removal percentage removal increases as the current density
efficiencies were 52.5% and 60%, respectively. This increases.
indicates that the electrocoagulation of BYW effluent 14
is highly pH-dependent. This result agrees with those
I = 8.0 A/m 2
of Liang et al. (2009) for the COD removal from 12
I = 24.0 A/m2
molasses wastewater and Al-Shannag et al. (2012) 10 I = 40.0 A/m 2
for the removal of COD from paper industry
wastewater. The effect of pH on the EC processes
COD (g / L)
8
conditions. 2
6 100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
5 t (min)
80
a)
4
60 6 100
% Removal
COD (g / L)
3
5
40 80
2
4
60
% Removal
20
COD (g / L)
1 COD
%Removal 3
40
0 0
2
2 4 6 8 10
pH 20
1 COD
%Removal
Fig. 2. Effect of pH on the COD concentration and its
removal percentage after 60 minutes EC treatment of 0 0
bakers yeast wastewater (COD0 = 12 g/L, MS= 300 rpm, 0 10 20 30 40 50
I = 32.0 A/m2, T = 40 oC)
2
I(A/m )
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COD reduction of baker's yeast wastewater using batch electrocoagulation
anode that are necessary to produce flocculating these ions will be under dosed far away from the
agents which lead to more COD removal. anode, resulting in incomplete charge neutralization
However, increasing the DC current may (Liang et al., 2009). On the other hand, at high
result in an energy waste for heating up the solution mixing speeds like MS = 600 rpm, shear forces will
inside electrocoagulation unit (Mahesh et al., 2006). break the flocs which stay in the solution rather than
For this reason a compromise of EC time and current to separate.
density should be considered.
3.4. Effect of temperature on COD removal of BYW
3.3 Effect of mixing speed on the COD reduction of
BYW In bakers yeast industries, the yeast
fermentation production process is conducted at a
Mixing is a vital parameter in EC process in temperature around 40oC, then the effluents
order to homogenize the coagulants throughout the wastewater is normally at the same range of this
aqueous phase so that it will destabilize colloidal temperature. In colloidal solutions, an increase in
impurities found in the wastewater. To investigate temperature causes a decrease in viscosity, an
the effect of mixing speed (MS) on the COD increase in surface potential and surface charge
reduction of BYW, several experiments were density, and a decrease in electrical double layer
performed at I= 32.0 A/m2, pH=7, and T = 40 oC. thickness. The surface potential of the particles does
The mixing speed was varied from MS = 100-600 not decrease with a corresponding decrease of
rpm. Fig. 4 shows plots of the COD concentration surface charge (Tari et al., 2000). A decrease in
and the corresponding percentage removal against electrical double layer thickness and an increase in
mixing speed. At MS = 100 rpm, the measured COD surface charge density promote agglomeration of
concentration was 4.3 g/L whereas the corresponding destabilized colloids, while an increase in surface
percentage removal was 64.2%. potential increases repulsion between the particles
Increasing the mixing speed up to MS = 300 (Sangal et al., 2013).
rpm, decreases the COD concentration and Fig. 5 shows plots of the COD
consequently increases the removal efficiency. At concentration and its percentage removal against
this mixing speed, MS = 300, the value of COD temperature for 60 minutes EC treatment at current
concentration was 2.20 g/L and its corresponding density, I = 32.0 A/m2, pH = 7, and MS = 300 rpm.
percentage removal was 81.7%. When the mixing As can be observed in the Figure, the dependency
speed increased above a value of MS = 300 rpm, the between COD reduction and temperature is not
measured COD concentration started to increase. significant which contradicts the more pronounced
When the MS reached a value of 600 rpm, the COD effect reported by Sangal et al. (2013). This may be
concentration became 3.4 g/L and its corresponding due to the fact that electrocoagulation is very
percentage removal was 71.7%. Accordingly, the complicated process in which the temperature can
optimal mixing speed to achieve maximum affect the EC performance in many ways like the
performance was found to be 300 rpm. kinetics of chemical reactions and the
thermodynamics of hydrogen gas bubbles released, in
6 100
addition to solution physiochemical properties such
as the electrical conductivity, the size of colloidal
5
80 particles and the solubility of metal hydroxides
4 (Phalakornkule et al., 2010).
60
% Removal
COD (g / L)
6 100
3
40 5
2 80
COD
20 4
1
60
% Removal
%Removal
COD (g / L)
0 0 3
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 40
MS (rpm) 2
20
1 COD
Fig. 4. Effect of mixing speed on the COD concentration %Removal
and its percentage removal for 60 minutes EC treatment of
bakers yeast wastewater (COD0 = 12 g/L, I = 32.0 A/m2, 0 0
pH = 7, and T = 40 oC) 0 20 40 60 80
o
T ( C)
To explain this behavior, it should be noted
that at low mixing speeds below 300 rpm, a non Fig. 5. Effect of operating temperature on the COD
concentration and its percentage removal for 60
homogenous mixture will result where ferrous ions
minutes EC treatment of bakers yeast
are over dosed near the anode, causing charge wastewater (COD0 = 12 g/L, I = 32.0 A/m2,
reversal and destabilization of the organics, whereas pH = 7, and MS = 300 rpm)
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3.5. Kinetic modeling of COD reduction of BYW kinetics to describe the COD reduction adequately. In
using electrocoagulation addition, Table 2 shows that the kinetic parameter, k,
increases as the current density increases.
As mentioned above, none of previous
studies modeled the kinetic mechanism for the COD Table 2. Values of first-order constant, k, and squared
reduction from BYW. In this context, it should be correlation coefficient, R2, at various values of current
remembered that the kinetic mechanism for density, I, for EC treatment of bakers yeast wastewater
pollutants removal using EC process is quite (COD0 = 12 g/L, T = 40.0 oC, pH = 7, and MS = 300 rpm)
complicated. In addition, the nature of pollutants and
their characteristics are quite different. I (A/m2) k (min-1) R2 (-)
Accordingly, the removal steps and 8.0 0.017 0.9842
consequently the mechanism may differ from 16.0 0.022 0.9872
24.0 0.024 0.9869
pollutant to another. For this reason, the present
32.0 0.029 0.9910
study used a simplified integral approach in which
40.0 0.033 0.9788
certain kinetic model is assumed and its ability to
resolve the experimental COD concentrations will be
To explore the relation between the kinetic
examined. In order to describe the reduction rate of
parameter and DC current density, the k values were
COD from BYW using EC process, the following
plotted against I according to Fig. 7. As can be
first-order kinetic model was tested (Eq. 4):
demonstrated in the Fig. 7, the power law relation fits
the k parameter as function of current density
d ( COD ) dt k ( COD ) (4)
parameter in excellent manner. This is also
where COD is the residual COD concentration in the confirmed by the value of corresponding squared
wastewater, g/L, k, is the first-order rate constant. correlation coefficient which is around unity.
Integrating Eq. (4) gives the linearized equation (5): 0.05
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COD reduction of baker's yeast wastewater using batch electrocoagulation
On the other hand, the amount of iron Unfortunately, increasing EC time and/or
electrode consumed per kg COD (MFe) removed from DC current increases both the electrical energy and
BYW can be assessed using Faraday's law: electrode consumption levels. However,
electrocoagulation process can be operated
60(I)(t)(M M) (8) effectively with EC time and current density of no
M Fe
[(z)(F) COD 0 COD v ] more than 60 minutes and 40 A/m2, respectively.
Finally, the present work reported a first-order COD
where MM is the molecular mass of iron (55.845 reduction rate with power-law dependency of its
g/mol), z is the charge of Fe (z=2) and F is the kinetic parameter upon the DC current density. These
Faraday's constant (96500 C/mol). important kinetic results, together with the optimum
Table 3 summarizes the percentage COD operating conditions, are so helpful in the design of
removal and consumption amounts of electrical industrial scale batch or continuous
energy and iron electrode per kg of COD removed electrocoagulation units to treat wastewater effluents
from bakers yeast wastewater at different current resulted from bakers yeast industries.
densities and electrocoagulation time. It is clear in
the Table 3 that increasing EC time and/or current References
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