Removal of Reactive Blue 52 by Electrocoagulation and UV/Persulfate from Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

Background: Discharge colored wastewaters without treatment is the main source of aquatic pollution, which will cause considerable impacts to the environment. Objectives: The main objective of this study was the investigation of electrocoagulation merged with advanced oxidation (UV/persulfate) as a novel treatment method in reactive blue 52 removal from aquatic environments. Methods: This work was an experimental study that was done in a glass beaker coupled with two electrodes made of iron, which had an effective total surface area of 60 cm2 as an electrocoagulation reactor and other cylindrical reactor equipped with 2 UV-C lamps (6 W) as an advanced reactor for reactive blue 52 removal. The parameters affecting the electrocoagulation process such as pH, current density, initial concentration of reactive blue 52, and reaction time was studied. Then, waste obtained from the previous stage exposed to the persulfate process and effect of operating parameters such as pH; sodium persulfate dosage was investigated. Results: Obtained results illustrate that reactive blue 52 was removed with 82.4% efficiency in the below optimal condition: pH = 7, density of current = 10 mA/cm2, and time of reaction = 30 min, respectively. In the hybrid process of electrocoagulation and UV/persulfate (pH = 7 and Na2S2O8 = 15 mM/L), the process efficiency in removal of dye was achieved at about 98.86%. Conclusions: Based on the obtained results, combination of two mentioned processes is an efficient and effective method for reactive blue 52 removal from aqueous environments.