A review on industrial wastewater treatment via electrocoagulation processes

Abstract

Every year, a large amount of wastewater is discharged from various industries into the environment, and various methods are used to treat wastewater to reduce the amount of pollutants. Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemically based technique that generates coagulant species in situ from the electrodissolution of sacrificial anodes, usually made of iron or aluminum destabilizes suspended, dissolved, or emulsified pollutants by using an electric current. It has a potential in removing various kinds of pollutants including organic and inorganic contaminants for various types of wastewater. The effectiveness of EC process depends on various parameters including pH, electrode, operation time, and current density. The goal of this study is to review the most relevant literatures that were published recently. The main challenges associated with the EC process are electrode passivation and energy consumption. EC compared with other common methods has advantages such as reducing energy consumption and reducing operating costs.