ELECTROCHEMICAL CATALYTIC DEGRADATION AND BIODEGRADABILITY ENHANCEMENT OF REAL TEXTILE WASTEWATER BY ANODIC AND CATHODIC REACTIONS

Abstract

An electro-Fenton process was carried out using undivided cell containing tridimensional graphite felt cathode for treatment of real textile wastewater. The study is essentially focused on effects of pH, applied current and transition metal types (Fe2+ and Cu2+) as catalysts on the electrochemical degradation efficiency based on color and COD removal and BOD5/COD value. The results indicated that pH 3 and applied current of 150 mA are the optimum conditions for decolorization and COD removal of real textile wastewater. Moreover, the increasing of the transition metal dosage enhanced efficiency of electro-Fenton process significantly. The BOD5/COD value of textile wastewater increased from 0.127 to 0.156, 0.38 and 0.453, after electrogenerated hydrogen peroxide with anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton processes conducted with Cu2+ and Fe2+ respectively. Therefore, biodegradability was significantly enhanced in presence of catalysts (Fe2+ and Cu-2+), particularly in presence of Fe2+ which was superior to Cu2+. It is also concluded that the electro-Fenton process is an effective technology for the colored wastewater treatment and it can be a pretreatment before biological processes.