Optimization of Electrocoagulation Process for the Treatment of Metal Cutting Wastewaters with Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

In the present investigation, treatment of metal cutting wastewater (MCW) using electrocoagulation (EC) process is designed and analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). RSM is applied to optimize the operating variables viz. initial pH, current density, and operating time on the treatment of MCW in a batch mode by EC process using iron and aluminum electrodes. Quadratic models are developed for the responses such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and turbidity, and operating cost is calculated with respect to energy, electrode, and chemical consumptions. The actual COD, TOC, and turbidity removal efficiencies at optimized conditions are found to be 93.0%, 83.0%, and 99.8% for Fe electrode and 93.5%, 85.2%, and 99.9% for Al electrode, respectively, which agree well with the predicted response. The proposed model fits very well with the experimental data with R 2 adjusted correlation coefficients of 0.927 for COD, 0.924 for TOC, and 0.968 for turbidity removal for Al and 0.904 for COD, 0.976 for TOC, and 0.989 for turbidity removal for Fe electrodes, respectively. This study clearly shows that RSM is one of the suitable methods to optimize the operating conditions and maximize the COD, TOC, and turbidity removal efficiencies for both electrodes while keeping the operating costs to minimal (0.371 €/m3 for Fe and 0.337 €/m3 for Al electrodes).