Enhancement of Electrocoagulation Process for Dye Removal Using Powdered Residuals from Water Purification Plants (PRWPP)

Abstract

Electrocoagulation (EC) technology is an attractive alternative for industrial wastewater treatment due to its simplicity, low operation cost, less sludge production, less chemical addition, and larger and more stable floc formation. The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of using powdered residuals from water purification plants (PRWPP) on dye removal efficiency and energy consumption under various operational conditions (pH, initial dye concentration, and applied voltage) in order to enhance the EC performance. A series of laboratory-scale experiments were conducted using an EC bench-scale reactor with iron electrodes. The addition of PRWPP to the EC system increases the dye removal efficiency from 32.9 to 97.2% and decreases the energy consumption from 6.08 to 2.06 kWh/kg dye removed. The highest dye removal efficiency was achieved at a PRWPP dosage of 2 g/l, an applied voltage of 5 V, and an initial pH value ranging from 6 to 9. The higher the dye influent concentrations discharged to EC, the lower the removal efficiency achieved and current efficiency. PRWPP has a beneficial effect on the EC performance in terms of the dye removal efficiency as well as the energy consumption.