Characterization of Peat Water Electrocoagulation Flocs from Sarawak Southern Region

Abstract

Sarawak located in Borneo is endowed with the vast availability of peat water sources, particularly for the state southern region. Several investigations have shown that electrocoagulation treatment with aluminium electrodes is feasible to treat peat water in which the quality is comparable to the National Water Quality Standard (NWQS). Even though electrocoagulation treatment is feasible to treat peat water, the characteristics of peat water electrocoagulation flocs have not been reported. As such, this study aims to investigate the characteristics of the electrocoagulation flocs from peat water derived from the Sarawak southern region by using batch electrocoagulation treatment. The objectives of this study are to conduct an experimental study analysis of and identify the minerals on the electrocoagulation flocs along with operating energy cost analysis of peat water batch electrocoagulation treatment. Consequently, this study has found that reaction time and current density affect the production of flocs in which the amount of flocs increases with the increasing reaction time and current density. The flocs produced are found to consist of a large fraction of oxygen (O), carbon (C), iron (Fe), and aluminium (Al) along with a small fraction of potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and Silicon (Si). The presence of Al observed in the flocs is due to the aluminium hydroxide generated during the electrocoagulation process. The total operating cost for peat electrocoagulation with a current density of 5A and reaction time of 20 minutes is about RM0.31 per m3. As a result, the electrocoagulation of peat water process is able to treat peat water as well as produce flocs in which earth elements and heavy metals could be recovered.