Treatment of textile wastewater using a novel electrocoagulation reactor design

Abstract

This study explored the best-operating conditions for a novel electrocoagulation (EC) reactor with the rotating anode for textile wastewater treatment. The influence of operating parameters like inter-electrode distance (IED), current density (CD), temperature, pH, operating time (RT), and rotation speed on the removal efficiency of the contaminant was studied. A comparative study was done using conventional model with static electrodes in two phases under same textile wastewater The findings revealed that the optimal conditions for textile wastewater treatment were attained at RT = 10 min, CD = 4 mA/cm2, rotation speed = 150 rpm, temperature = 25oC, IED = 1cm, and pH = 4.57. The removal efficiencies of colour, biological oxygen demand (BOD), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total suspended solid (TSS) were 98.50%, 95.55%, 96%, 98% and 97.10% within the first 10 min of the reaction. The results of the experiment reveal that the newly designed reactor incorporated with cathode rings and rotated anode impellers provide a superior treatment efficiency within a short reaction time. The novel EC reactor with a rotating anode significantly enhanced textile wastewater treatment compared to the conventional model. The values of adsorption and passivation resistance validated the pollutants removal rate.