Study of organic matter during coagulation and electrocoagulation processes: Application to a stabilized landfill leachate

Abstract

Organic matter contained in leachates appears to be a relevant indicator of waste evolution. Among the physico-chemical treatments applied to stabilize leachates, coagulation–flocculation is considered a classical process and electrocoagulation can be developed. Electrocoagulation tests were carried out in a laboratory pilot using aluminium plates and compared to classical coagulation–floculation with aluminium ions and to electrolysis alone. The leachate used in this study came from the landfill of Crezin (Limoges, France) and it presented low biodegradability and high concentration of macromolecules. To assess the efficiency of the chemical and electrochemical processes, we specifically studied Organic Matter (OM) by using two protocols: adsorption on XAD resins and fractionation by ultrafiltration. Biodegradable Dissolved Organic Carbon (BDOC) measurements were applied to the fractions extracted by XAD resins and were also used as an indicator of the efficiency of the treatments. Residual organic matter concentration was the same for the two processes but its composition appeared different after electrocoagulation: a higher percentage of small hydrophilic organic molecules which seemed to be less biodegradable than the initial organic matter was observed.