Modelling of the treatment of wastewater by photovoltaic solar electrochemical oxidation (PSEO) assisted by redox-flow batteries

Abstract

This work aims at the formulation of simple and pragmatic models to predict the behaviour of a photovoltaic solar electrochemical oxidation treatment assisted by an energy storage system. Those models will be later integrated in a software tool that allows the optimization and the management of the energy provided by solar panels to power electrochemical advanced oxidation processes coupled with a redox flow battery as energy storage system. Models for a PV panel, a redox flow battery stack and a conductive diamond electrochemical oxidation electrolyzer have been proposed and fitted to experimental data. Results showed a huge accuracy of the models to predict the electric and remediation parameters. Validation analyses reported high regression coefficients above 0.96 which confirm the precision of all the proposed models. Thus, once known the solar radiation in a located place, the level of remediation of a wastewater effluent treated by electrolysis may be estimated. Furthermore, it must be pointed out that the operational conditions of the treatment could be optimized and adjusted by means of an energy storage in the redox flow battery. Considering those facts, the sustainability and efficiency of electrochemically-assisted remediation processes could be highly increased.