Electrodeposition of Lead from Simulated Wastewater Using Stainless Steel Tubes Bundle as Cathode

Abstract

Lead ions form a dangerous pollutant to both human and aqua lives when discharged to the environment with wastewater due to the diseases and the damage of the live cells caused by these ions, so, it is very important to find an effective method for lead ions removel. Lead ions were successfully recovered from simulated wastewater by a flowthrough batch recycle electrochemical reactor with stainless steel tubes bundle as a cathode operating under mass transfer control conditions in 0.5 M NaCl electrolyte solution. Effects of initial lead ions concentration, electrolyte flow rate, and PH were studied and the mass transfer coefficient was determined under these conditions. Performance of this reactor was analyzed by the construction of some figures of merit like fractional conversion, specific energy consumption, space-time yield, and space velocity. Experimental results were correlated in the general form of a dimensionless mass transfer correlation as SH = 1.024Re0.00699Sc1/3.