Electroflocculation is a process that removed contaminants from wastewaters by using electric currents to dissolve sacrificial metal to supply the ions need for the flocculation. It plays an important role in water and wastewater treatment as it combines partial electrolytic oxidation and physicochemical or electrochemical precipitation. It is a physical/chemical process that has the advantages of being simpler to operate and non-species specific which means it can be employed in different pollutant matrices without producing residual sludge. In this study, this method was used to remediate wastewater from different industries. Among these are chromium in tannery, lignin in pulp industry and plexibond in paint industry. Electrolytic parameters such as initial wastewater pH, applied voltage, electrodes used and electrolysis time were investigated to determine which parameters are significant in the reduction of the mentioned pollutants.  Kinetics studies were also monitored in terms of color, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS). Cyclic voltammetry was also used to characterize the systems before and after treatment. Results show that the main effects of initial pH, applied potential, and electrolysis time as well as the interaction effects of initial pH and applied voltage, initial pH and electrolysis time, and applied voltage and electrolysis time are significant in the reduction of pollutants in the wastewaters used.  It was also observed that both pH and temperature increase as electroflocculation proceeds which significantly favors the reduction of the pollutants. In order to apply this study to large tanneries, a scale-up factor – the charge dose – was calculated. Also, the estimated specific energy requirement and estimated energy cost for the removal of these pollutants were determined.

Use of electroflocculation in remediating industrial wastewaters in the Philippines

2019 Spring National Meeting

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