Electrochemical denitrification of metal-finishing wastewater: Influence of operational parameters

Abstract

Experimental results are presented for the electrolytic ChemDen (Chemical-Denitrification) process which was designed to investigate the effect of operational parameters on the nitrate (NO 3 − ) removal from metal-finishing wastewater. The parameters included electrode materials, electrode gap, reducing agent, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and recycle ratio in the single electrolytic ChemDen reactor for lab-scale tests. The removal efficiency of nitrate is based upon a non-biological process which consists of chemical and electrolytic treatment. Results showed that removal efficiency of nitrate was highest when the zinc (Zn) electrodes were used for both anode and cathode. In the case of insoluble electrode, combining Pt anode with Ti cathode provided great improvement of nitrate removal. For the Pt-Ti electrode combination, increasing electrode gap tended to increase removal efficiency of nitrate significantly. However, no further increase in the nitrate removal was observed when the electrode gap was longer than 10mm. Using sulfamic acid and Zn metal powder as reducing agents for the electrolytic ChemDen reaction, highest nitrate removal was achieved when the mole ratio of Zn: sulfamic acid: nitrate was 1.2: 1: 1. Remarkable improvement in the nitrate removal was also observed with increasing HRT from 10 to 30 min, while the effectiveness was limited when HRT was increased to 60 min. Recycling in electrolytic ChemDen reactor affected nitrate removal positively because it could improve both dispersion and reuse of Zn metal powder as reducing agent in the reactor. Recycling effects were thought to be associated with increasing surface reactivity of the Zn metal powder in the electrolytic ChemDen reactor.