Abstract
The cold meat industry is considered to be one of the main sources of organic pollutants in the wastewater of the meat sector due to the complex mixture of protein, fats, and dyes present. This study describes electrochemical coagulation (EC) treatment for the adsorption of organic pollutants reported in cold meat industry wastewater, and an artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to model the adsorption of chemical oxygen demand (COD). To depict the adsorption process, the parameters analyzed were current density (2–6 mA cm−2), initial pH (5–9), temperature (288–308 K), and EC time (0–180 min). The experimental results were fit to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations, while the modeling of the adsorption kinetics was evaluated by means of pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order rate laws. The data reveal that current density is the main control parameter in EC treatment, and 60 min are required for an effective adsorption process. The maximum removal of COD was 2875 mg L−1 (82%) when the following conditions were employed: pH = 7, current density = 6 mA cm−2, and temperature of 298 K. Experimental results obey second-order kinetics with values of the constant in the range of 1.176 × 10−5 ≤ k2 (mg COD adsorbed/g-Al.min) ≤ 1.284 × 10−5. The ANN applied in this research established that better COD removal, 3262.70 mg L−1 (93.22%) with R2 = 0.98, was found using the following conditions: EC time of 30.22 min, initial pH = 7.80, and current density = 6 mA cm−2. The maximum adsorption capacity of 621.11 mg g−1 indicates a notable affinity between the organic pollutants and coagulant metallic ions.
Highlights
It has been generally recognized that the physicochemical characteristics of the wastewaters from the cold meat industry and from slaughterhouses are very similar
Because only a small number of scientific reports are related directly to cold meat industry wastewater, generally, the characteristics of slaughterhouse wastewater have frequently been employed as a reference [1]
The organic matter identified as biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) is 2035 and 3500 mg L−1, respectively
Summary
It has been generally recognized that the physicochemical characteristics of the wastewaters from the cold meat industry and from slaughterhouses are very similar. In both cases, the volume of effluent generated is between 5 and 8 m3 per ton of meat processed. Because only a small number of scientific reports are related directly to cold meat industry wastewater, generally, the characteristics of slaughterhouse wastewater have frequently been employed as a reference [1]. Physical, biological, and chemical treatments have been utilized to depurate wastewater in the cold meat industry [1,2]. Due to the increasing need for meat processes that are more sustainable and more environmentally friendly, diverse scientific studies have been reported where the use of
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