A critical review on electrocoagulation and nanofiltration including hybrid methods for the treatment of Dairy industry wastewater

Abstract

ABSTRACT Electrocoagulation (EC) has emerged as one of the most prominent wastewater treatment processes due to its minimal environmental impact, small footprint, and user-friendliness. The EC process can be utilised to reduce the high rate of organic and inorganic pollutants with improved effluent treatment quality at a reduced cost. Additionally, Membrane treatment techniques employing Nanofiltration (NF) are gaining widespread acceptance in wastewater treatment owing to their high-quality removal rate, reduced membrane cost, and energy efficiency. The foregoing characteristics of these two technologies make them favourable for the treatment of dairy effluents laden with various kinds of nutrients, organic and inorganic compounds. This study provides a comprehensive overview of dairy wastewater characteristics and effluent treatment technologies, with special emphasis on EC and NF techniques, which have recently emerged as viable alternatives to traditional methods. Very limited studies have been conducted on EC-NF hybrid technology for dairy wastewater treatment, focusing on parameters optimisation, sustainability of this technology and its economic viability. The present study aims to address this gap in the existing literature. The review primarily focuses on EC, NF, EC hybrid process, NF hybrid process, and combined EC-NF process, including their application, benefits, and limitations. The future potential lies in the suitable hybridisation of EC-NF methods, which appear promising, cost-effective, and viable for treating dairy wastewater.