Effect of mono and bipolar connection modes on the electrocoagulation removal efficiency of multi-heavy metals from simulated wastewater

Abstract

Electrochemical treatment methods are frequently used to remove a wide range of pollutants from wastewaters generated by domestic and industrial operations. This work aims to investigate the impacts of using monopolar and bipolar connection modes of an electrocoagulation reactor (ECR) into the DC-power supply. The present design of the ECR involves concentric-multi-cubic (CMC) aluminum electrodes. The anode electrodes are perforated to be light-weight and decrease the amount of anode consumption as well as the increase of oxygen bubbles released that were assisting the buoyancy process of light-pollutants toward the surface of the solution in addition to the hydrogen bubbles that released from the plane electrodes of the cathode. The ECR was used to treat synthetic wastewater containing 100 ppm of each Pb, Cd, and Cu ions under the effects of pH of 7, applied currentof 1.4 A, NaCl of 2 g, 300 rpm of stirring speed, and reaction time of (0-90 min). The core results proved that the bipolar connection mode (BCM) was more effective than the monopolar connection mode (MCM) in removing these toxic metals from wastewater. The highest removal efficiencies of these metals were obtained via the BCM system as: 99.97%, 99.99%, and 99.72% after 45, 90, and 30 min, respectively. While they achieved 79.72%, 85.19%, and 95.83% via the MCM system after 90, 90, and 30 min, respectively.The present new design of electrodes using the bipolar system was more reliable in wastewater treatment containing toxic metals with significant low values of electrical energy consumption, electrodes consumption, and cost-effective