Abstract
Electrocoagulation is a multiple-purpose process re-emerging nowadays as a low-energy solution to water treatment and pollution control problems. This paper describes the development of electrocoagulation-flocculation (ECF) treatment processes of water and wastewater that could be a potential hydrogen gas source and reduce operational costs as well. ECF coupling with ultrafiltration (UF) for organics removal and flux enhancement and, with granular filtration (GF) and constructed wetland (CW) for P removal from secondary effluents are examined. Bench-scale experiments of ECF-UF and ECF-UF configurations and ECF-GF-CW pilot tests had been performed. Analysis of ECF mechanisms leads to energy conservation potential via (a) hydrogen co-generation, (b) low voltage application, (c) reduced chemicals transportation (which is also helpful in less developed cold areas where and when roads are blocked) and (d) hybridization with other low energy treatment processes such as constructed wetlands or SAT. A model developed for energy minimization is found to play a major role in process selection. It is also concluded that ECF as pretreatment for UF and MF improved filtrate quality and reduced the fouling, particularly by reducing cake influence. And, complementing CW treatment with a physicochemical process of ECF reduces soluble and particulate phosphate, and removes organic matter and nitrogen compounds.
Highlights
Energy and water are strongly connected, in cold climate regions
Water transport and treatment operations are playing a major role in that sphere
Electrochemical processes, where water and energy are so closely involved, are evolving nowadays as low-energy solutions and co-generation facilitators. Among those is electrocoagulation, which is a re-emerging multiple-purpose process involving the electrolytic addition of a coagulating metal from a sacrificial metal electrode such as aluminum or iron placed in water that hydrolyzes and coagulates colloids
Summary
Energy and water are strongly connected, in cold climate regions. Water transport and treatment operations are playing a major role in that sphere. Electrochemical processes, where water and energy are so closely involved, are evolving nowadays as low-energy solutions and co-generation facilitators. The ECF, which is based on electrochemical method, has recently been suggested as an alternative to conventional coagulation due to its economic and environmental advantages. It has been increasingly used pretreatment of industrial wastes [1, 2], removal of organic [3, 4], inorganic pollutants [5, 6] and treatment of natural water [7,8,9]. One of the potential applications of ECF to water reuse schemes is its capability to improve performance of treatment systems via hybridization with other unit processes such as sand filtration, membrane filtration or constructed wetland (CW)
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