Electrocoagulation Research Articles

Removal of fluoride from ground water by electrocoagulation method: investigation of process parameters, kinetic analysis, and operating cost

In the current study, aluminum electrodes have been employed in electrocoagulation (EC) to remove fluoride ions from groundwater. The effects of various operating process variables of EC, including pH, salt dosage, stirring speed, inter-electrode distance, and current density have been studied, as well as the operating cost and kinetics of the process. The most favorable values of the EC process parameters have been observed, which are effective for the removal of 97.6% fluoride, such as an initial value of pH 7.0, a current density value of 105.86 A/m2, an IED of 1 cm, a dose of salt of 0.33 g/L, a rotating speed of 700 RPM, and a time 40 min. The operating cost for the removal of fluoride (97.6% efficiency) from groundwater by EC was found to be 0.27 US$/m3. The effectiveness of the EC process in the removal of turbidity and TDS from different operating circumstances have also been investigated. First-order kinetics was observed in the kinetic study. The reaction rate constant k increases with CD increase, k decreases with IED increase, and k decreases with initial concentration increase. EDX analysis and FTIR spectra of the sludge confirm the availability of trace amounts of fluoride in the sludge produced. The EC process can effectively reduce the fluoride concentration from synthetic water as well as real groundwater up to below 1.5 mg/L as per WHO recommendations for drinking water.

Evaluation of Using Sequential Electrocoagulation and Chemical Coagulation for Urea Removal from Synthetic and Domestic Wastewater

The presence of urea in wastewater can give rise to many issues, including the proliferation of algae as a consequence of eutrophication as well as the discharge of ammonia, which exerts a detrimental impact on aquatic organisms. To assess the efficacy of several treatment strategies for lowering urea concentrations, this study compared the removing performances of electrocoagulation (EC) with those of conducting electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation in sequence (EC-CC) or vice versa (CC-EC). Many effective parameters of electrocoagulation have been studied, such as current density, spacing between electrodes, electrolyte type, and electrolysis time. A scanning electron microscope was used to investigate the electrode morphology, and a Fourier transform infrared was conducted to analyze the formed sludge. The electrocoagulation was carried out at its optimum conditions at 30 A/m2, and the chemical coagulation was conducted using three types of iron coagulants: FeSO4, Fe2(SO4)3, and FeCl3. The results showed insufficient improvement in urea removal for synthetic and domestic wastewater via EC-CC, regardless of the coagulant type. The urea removal efficiency via EC-CC improved by less than 0.5% and 5.5% for synthetic and domestic wastewater, respectively. In contrast, CC-EC proved a better improvement for urea removal for both synthetic and domestic wastewater, but only for FeCl3. Treatment by CC-EC at 30 A/m2 for 60 min using iron electrodes and 0.5 g/L of FeCl3 resulted in an improvement in the removal efficiency of urea by about 3.4% and 10.40% for synthetic and domestic wastewater, respectively. CC-EC achieved better removal of COD from domestic wastewater than that achieved by EC-CC by 6%. The results obtained from the study indicate that the CC-EC process is a cost-effective method for removing urea from both synthetic and domestic wastewater.

Inactivation of Escherichia Coli by mixed-valent nanoparticles in-situ generated during Fe electrocoagulation

Electrocoagulation (EC) is promising for the removal of chemical and microbial contaminants. Although the removal of pathogens from wastewater is efficient by conventional Fe-EC in the presence of dissolved oxygen (DO), the non-inactivated pathogens in the sediment still have a risk. Herein, the inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) with the mixed-valent iron nanoparticles, magnetite and green rust (GR), in-situ generated from Fe-EC process in the absence of DO was investigated. The inactivation efficiency was significantly higher with magnetite (4.7 log cells) and GR (3.2 log cells) compared with FeOOH (0.7–1.7 log cells) generated at 50 mA in 10 min. The unstable in-situ generated magnetite with positive charges was prone to adsorb onto E. coli, damaging the cell membrane, inactivating the bacteria. The unstable in-situ generated GR was prone to coagulate with E. coli, delivering Fe2+ into the cell and inducing the generation of endogenous ROS, inactivating the bacteria. Fe-EC in the absence of DO was proved to be efficient for the inactivation of E. coli (4.2–4.3 log cells) in real wastewater. These findings identified the ignored inactivation effect and mechanism of E. coli with magnetite and GR generated in situ from Fe-EC process, which will provide theoretical support for real applications.

Optimizing copper removal from synthetic water using electrocoagulation and response surface methodology

The purification of water and wastewater requires a lot of energy and large amounts of chemicals can still be used with conventional techniques. The electrocoagulation (EC) method, an electrochemical treatment approach, has been suggested as a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative. In this study, the removal of copper from synthetic water was investigated using EC technique. Box-Behnken Design (BBD) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were applied to optimize operating parameters such as current density, electrolysis time and initial pH. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the effect of factors and their interactions, and multiple regression analysis was used to fit it to a second-order polynomial equation. According to the results, current density had the greatest impact on copper removal. A current density of 7.24 mA/cm², a reaction time of 27.43 minutes, and an initial pH value of 7.56 were determined to be optimal conditions. Under these optimal conditions, the copper removal efficiency was 97.5%. Therefore, EC combines with RSM is an efficient treatment approach for copper-contaminated water.

Comprehensive analysis of the integrated electro-coagulation and membrane filtration process for semiconductor wastewater treatment

Dissolved silica poses a significant challenge in semiconductor wastewater treatment due to its propensity to cause scaling and its resistance to removal, particularly due to its low molecular weight and its uncharged nature under neutral pH conditions. This study thus focuses on optimizing the integrated electro-coagulation (EC) and microfiltration (MF) membrane process, which involves the rapid coagulation of dissolved silica and the subsequent removal of the resulting coagulated EC flocs using a membrane. Various anode-cathode combinations were assessed in the EC process to determine the most effective electrode pairing for dissolved silica removal and system maintenance. Our findings revealed that an AlAl electrode combination facilitated efficient dissolved silica removal, reducing concentrations to levels that prevent scaling under charge loadings exceeding 450 C/L. Additionally, different types of polymeric or ceramic membranes were assessed downstream of the EC process to investigate further removal of coagulated dissolved silica flocs and to compare associated membrane fouling. Ceramic membranes exhibited superior fouling resistance, highlighting the role of EC flocs as a major contributor to membrane fouling. This study explores diverse operational conditions for the integrated EC and MF membrane process to achieve the effective removal of dissolved silica. Collectively, our findings provide valuable insights for the rapid removal of other hazardous contaminants commonly found in semiconductor wastewater, thus paving the way for more effective wastewater treatment processes.

Simplified electrocoagulation for efficient biodiesel washing water treatment

Biodiesel is commonly purified by washing with water, but its improper disposal poses serious environmental and economic issues. Electrocoagulation (EC) is an attractive technique for treating biodiesel fuel wastewater, owing to its effectiveness, ease of operation, and low cost operation. In this study, an experimental factorial design was employed to investigated the minimum parameters required for efficient and cost-effective treatment (pH: 3 – 9; voltage: 5 – 20 V). All experiments were conducted at room temperature (25º C) using a 1 L acrylic monopolar batch reactor. Aluminum electrode (12x5x 0.1cm) were used. The effluents were characterized before and after treatments, measuring Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), pH, color, turbidity, conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Oil & Grease (O&G), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), fixed solids, and volatile solids. Kinetic experiments were performed to determine the minimum operating time (30 min). The obtained results demonstrated significant removal of turbidity (94.5%), color (96.4%), COD (83.9%), conductivity (37%), and O&G (93%). Additionally, the experimental and theoretical values showed good agreement, allowing for the development of predictive mathematical models for the analytical responses.

Iron electrocoagulation activated peracetic acid for efficient degradation of sulfamethoxazole

Activation of peracetic acid (PAA) by Fe species is the attractive advanced oxidation processes for the removal of antibiotics. However, achieving optimal performance in many of these processes often requires acidic pH conditions, which impedes practical application. In this study, an iron electrocoagulation (EC) system was devised to for activate PAA and oxidate sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Under optimal conditions, the degradation of SMX by the EC/PAA system reached 96.2% within 15 min, with a pseudo-first order reaction constant of 0.241 min−1, but only consuming 0.044 kW·h/m3. Interestingly, the EC/PAA system showed a high buffering capacity in the initial pH range of 4–8 to maintain the final pH of around 7. The quenching experiments revealed both free radical and non-free radical pathways involved in the oxidation of SMX in the EC/PAA system. Specifically, the active species, including •OH, organic radicals (CH3COO• and CH3COOO•) and 1O2, contribute 86.77%, 5.53% and 7.70%, respectively. These findings suggest that the EC/PAA system has unique advantages and potential for the degradation of antibiotic organics such as SMX in aquatic environments due to its strong oxidative capacity, wide pH range and high buffering capacity.

Application of electrocoagulation process for the treatment of reactive blue 19 synthetic wastewater: Evaluation of different operation conditions and financial analysis

The aim of this study was to treat reactive blue 19 (RB 19) in solution by electrocoagulation (EC) process, using aluminum cathodes modified by zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). Cyclic voltammetry methodology (CVM) was used to investigate the effect of coating aluminum electrodes with ZnO-NPs. The response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to evaluate and optimize the variables and the response, which was dye removal efficiency. The economic and energy analyses confirmed that this process was a promising method for pretreatment and treatment of industrial textile wastewater.

Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater using copper electrodes

The conventional electrode aluminum used in electrocoagulation (EC) for the textile wastewater undergoes pitting type of corrosion, so dissolution of the same is very high during electrolysis. This research focuses on the treatment of real-time textile effluent with copper electrodes that corrode uniformly during electrolysis, with optimizing operating parameters for high color removal efficiency (CRE%). The sludge acquired was analyzed by XPS and XRD to study the mechanism of dye removal. The treated effluent was subjected to phytotoxicity analysis using Vigna radiata to study the toxicity effect of the intermediary products. 98.6% of CRE was attained in treating the effluent with copper electrodes. XPS and XRD results showed that both Cu(OH)2 and CuO served as coagulants in the dye removal. The phytotoxicity results showed that the percentage of germination, shoot and root lengths of Vigna radiata in the treated effluent were similar to the results obtained for the control.

Elimination of two cationic dyes by electro coagulation in single and binary system: parametric study

In this work, the removal of two cationic dyes {greenmethyl and basicyellow 28} by electro coagulation using aluminium as anode and stainless steel as cathode was studied. First, the effect of the most important parameters {current intensity, initial pH of and initial concentration} on decolorization in single system was investigated. The results showed that the pollutants are totally removed (with efficiently of 100 %) and the adsorption kinetics was directly related of the pollutant nature and the operating conditions such as (Initial pH, concentration and contact time). Secondly, the removal of the dyes in a binary system was studied. Results showed that adding BY28 affects positively the removal of GM by increasing the removal of the BY 28, which can be explained by synergic effect of decolorization.

Using an anti-fouling electro- (stainless-steel/ PVC) membrane reactor in electrocoagulation process for arsenic removal: Experimental study and mechanism development in multiphase media using CFD

The electrocoagulation (EC) method is an effective way to remove arsenic (As) from water. However, to obtain high-quality floc-free water, it needs further purification, and membrane processes can be used to achieve this goal, but fouling is their main problem. In this study, a PVC/stainless steel electro-conductive membrane was used as a cathode electrode, and the effects of voltage, current, and time on the reduction of membrane fouling and arsenic removal were investigated. By increasing the applied voltage, due to the increase of the repulsive force between the membrane and negatively charged arsenic particles, the percentage of arsenic removal increased. While increasing the current density, more coagulant materials were produced from the anode, and the rejection rate of arsenic also became higher. The optimal conditions for removing arsenic at 22 V, 0.2 A, and 50 min were obtained according to the box-Behnken design in deionized water. After the second one-hour cycle, the concentration of arsenic in the model water decreased by 99.6% and fell below the maximum permissible level. Additionally, increasing voltage and current reduces membrane fouling due to an increase in the repulsive force and formation of bubbles on the membrane surface, respectively. Also, the process modeling results, considering the adsorption mechanism and repulsive force, showed that at 0.2 and 0.32 amperages, the model follows the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms better, respectively, and showed an accurate prediction of experimental outcomes. Furthermore, 3D process modeling results indicated the distribution of velocity, current, voltage, and concentration inside the reactor.

Removal of E133 brilliant blue dye from artificial wastewater by electrocoagulation using cans waste as electrodes

AbstractSolid‐waste management, particularly of aluminum (Al), is a challenge that is being confronted around the world. Therefore, it is valuable to explore methods that can minimize the exploitation of natural assets, such as recycling. In this study, using hazardous Al waste as the main electrodes in the electrocoagulation (EC) process for dye removal from wastewater was discussed. The EC process is considered to be one of the most efficient, promising, and cost‐effective ways of handling various toxic effluents. The effect of current density (10, 20, and 30 mA/cm2), electrolyte concentration (1 and 2 g/L), and initial concentration of Brilliant Blue dye (15 and 30 mg/L) on the efficiency of the EC process were examined in this study. The results show that removal efficiency increased with current density and sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration and decreased with initial dye concentration. The electrical power and electrodes consumed increased with an increase in current density and decreased notably with increased NaCl. The optimum current density and amount of NaCl were 20 mA/cm2 and 2 g/L, respectively to attain highest values of E133 brilliant blue dye removal. The EC process was examined using adsorption isotherms and kinetics models. Those results showed that the Langmuir isotherm matched the experimental data. Furthermore, the experimental data were followed the Elovich model kinetics.

Overlooked flocs in electrocoagulation-based ultrafiltration systems: A new understanding of the structural interfacial properties

An integrated ferrate-induced electrocoagulation-ultrafiltration (FECUF) process is proposed to cope with the growing demand for water treatment. Although flocs formed during the electrocoagulation (EC) process are useful for contaminant reduction and mitigation of membrane fouling, few studies have been focused on their structures and properties. Herein, we investigated the formation and structural transformations of flocs and their responses to organic matter, as well as the relationships between their interfacial properties and membrane fouling mitigation. It was found that ferrate contributed to the fast formation of flocs during the ferrate-induced electrocoagulation (FEC) process, which accelerated the FECUF process. Physicochemical analyses indicated that the flocs formed in the FEC process were mainly composed of Fe(III)-(hydr)oxides with abundant hydroxyl groups and poor crystallinity, which allowed complexation with NOM. Therefore, the mobilities of the NOM and the soluble coagulant ions were reduced. The responses of flocs to NOM suggested that the period of 0–20 min resulted in the most efficient NOM removal. In addition, two patterns revealed the relationships between the interfacial properties of the small colloidal particles (SCPs) and the membrane filtration performance: i) the decline in the initial flux was closely related to the composition (gel-type substances or metal-(hydr)oxides) of the SCPs and ii) the steady-state flux was influenced by the energy barrier between the SCPs. However, when the SCPs had the same composition, the interfacial properties influenced both the initial flux and the steady-state flux. This study provides an alternative FECUF process for intensive upgrades of centralized water treatment systems.

Efficient integration of electrocoagulation treatment with the spray-pyrolyzed activated carbon coating on stainless steel electrodes for textile effluent-bath reuse with ease.

In this study, the electrocoagulation (EC) treatment was used to minimize and separate pollutants from textile industrial wastewater (TIWW), including high colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total dissolved solids (TDS). To enhance the EC treatment efficiency, a novel strategy has been followed in the study that involves thin-film coating on 316 stainless steel (SS) electrodes with banana peel-derived activated carbon (BPAC) by dip coating, spin coating, or spray coating. Among the different types of coating, thickness and contact angle measurements have elucidated that the spray coating of BPAC on SS electrode is the best tool with minimum thickness and contact angle. In this study, a bare SS electrode was used as the anode and a thin-film spray-coated BPAC on the SS electrode was used as the cathode. Moreover, optimization plays a key role in EC treatment process, where operating conditions such as a current density of 10 mA/cm2 , contact time of 15 min, and a pH of 7 were fixed. As a result, the findings indicate comparatively high colour removal of 98%, COD removal of 91%, TOC removal of 89.6%, and TDS removal of 68 % are achieved with ease. Accordingly, in comparison to plain SS electrodes or dip or spin-coated BPAC on SS electrodes, spray-coated BPAC on SS electrodes in EC treatment outperforms in removing high colour, TOC, COD, and TDS. Overall, the study highlights the potential of EC treatment integrated with adsorption procedures for TIWW treatment. Particularly, the use of thin-film spray-coated BPAC on SS electrodes in the EC treatment process led to an effective and sustainable tool for treating and reuse of TIWW. It is due to its low operation and maintenance cost and studied in a short interval of time. Finally, the ultimate goal was firmly achieved in pilot scale studies by the safe discharge into the environment or reuse of treated textile wastewater. Thus, it is a promising alternative with an environmentally friendly footprint that could be easily implemented in any textile industry premises.

The study of the effect of mass transfer of pollutants and flocs on continuous electrocoagulation processes

In electrocoagulation (EC) process, the pollutants are mainly removed by the in-situ generated adsorptive flocs which have large surface areas and are beneficial for a rapid adsorption and pollutant trapping. The influence of multi-phase fluid flow (continuous fluid phase, the dispersed bubbles and flocs phase) on mass transfer of pollutants and flocs was systematically studied by the retention time distribution (RTD) analysis and mathematical modeling. The influence of the aerated and in-situ electro-generated bubbles on pollutants and flocs transport was investigated. The electro-generated bubbles have much smaller size and are easier to be adsorbed by the flocs. Thus, the electro-generated bubbles could advance the retention time (RT) of flocs obviously. The aerated bubbles which have larger size than electro-generated bubbles could increase the turbulence of the fluid flow. It causes the back mixture of pollutants and flocs. Thus, both electro-generated and aerated bubbles could shorten the RT of pollutants and flocs through different mechanisms, resulting in reduced removal efficiency of EC. The transport characteristics of pollutants and flocs in three typical structure reactors were studied. The vertical tubular-like EC has shorter RT than horizontal tubular-like EC. However, the former reactor has higher pollutant removal than the latter one. The reason is that the vertical tubular-like EC has uniform flocs distribution. This reveals that besides the RT of flocs, the distribution characteristics of flocs in typical structure reactors also contribute to the pollutant adsorption. The transport characteristics of flocs with different structures in EC process was studied by RTD method and was proven to differ greatly. Compared with Fe3O4 and FeOOH, green rusts (GRs) has stronger adsorption ability for the bubbles. Thus, although the GRs has shorter retention time (RT), the GRs has the highest pollutant removal. The reason is that Fe3O4 and FeOOH are easy to aggregate, however GRs has better dispersibility. GRs have the highest removal efficiency for pollutants. In EC process, the parameters should be optimized to generate flocs which is mainly composed of GRs to achieve the highest pollutant removal efficiency.

Modelling of E. coli Inactivation from Solutions using GInaFiT via Hybrid Electrode Connected Electro-Disinfection Process

E. coli (Escherichia coli) is a bacterium found in human and animal intestines. These bacteria, which can enter the bloodstream through as anyway as the environment or food, can cause many diseases such as diarrhea, respiratory problems, and blood/urinary tract infections especially in human. Therefore, these bacteria have to be removed from drinking water sources by some inactivation methods. Conventional methods as chlorination, ozonation and UV inactivation methods are effective but the development of techniques that do not require the transportation and storage of chemicals and do not produce negative by-products and cost-effective is the basis of environmental engineering studies. In this study, the inactivation effectiveness of hybrid electrode connected electrochemical process as a new approach on E. coli was investigated. The connection system was experienced with Al/SS/SS as Anode/Cathode/Anode electrode. Simultaneously electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO) mechanism works together in this electrode connection system. The inactivation coefficients were determined by the GInaFiT (Geeraerd and Van Impe Inactivation Model Fitting Tool) modeling tool, which is a Microsoft Excel add-on and the model was statistically well fitted with Double-Weibull. 4D degradation of E. coli was achieved as 21 minutes at a current density of 0.3 A and an optical density (O.D.) of 0.21. It has been determined that hybrid electrode connected electro-disinfection process is an effective approach for the E.coli inactivation.

Recovery of fine particles of activated carbon with gold by the electrocoagulation process using a Taguchi experimental design

The high efficiency of gold recovery via the industrial metallurgical process is increasingly relevant because gold is present at low concentrations in mineral bodies and is difficult to extract. In the mining–metallurgical industry, gold adsorption on activated carbon (AC) includes stages that compromise the structural integrity of the particle. In particular, carbon is an organic material that tends to wear and break down in recovery systems, causing fine particles losses of up to 41% of the average consumption (40 g/t of AC). Carbon-in-columns (CIC) for gold recovery systems lacks on a measure to prevent losses of particles <0.040 mm. Electrocoagulation (EC) technology is an option to improve AC particles recovery from CIC systems, thus increasing the recovery efficiency of ultra-fine particles of AC without requiring additional chemicals. To find the optimal working parameters of gold recovery by EC, the present study conducts laboratory-scale, batch-type EC experiments on AC particles of different sizes (0.106 and 0.053 mm) using different electrodes (iron and aluminum). The EC process was performed in synthetic aqueous medium with an AC particle concentration of 0.80 g/L. The experimental design and results were carried on using the Taguchi statistical method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the filtered and recovered elecrocoagulated product revealed partially coated AC and aggregates of various AC particles with gold. The EC process with the aluminum electrode more effectively recovered the 0.106-mm-sized AC particles, with a more uniform coating, than EC with the iron electrode. Small particles tended to aggregate into larger particles with aluminum hydroxide species, enabling extremely fine AC particle recovery by EC. When used with the aluminum and iron electrodes, the gold–AC recoveries of the EC process exceeded 96% and 88%, respectively.

Biodegradability enhancement of waste lubricating oil regeneration wastewater using electrocoagulation pretreatment.

As a sustainable management of fossil fuel resources and ecological environment protection, recycling used lubricating oil has received widespread attention. However, large amounts of waste lubricating-oil regeneration wastewater (WLORW) are inevitably produced in the recycling process, and challenges are faced by traditional biological treatment of WLORW. Thus, this study investigated the effectiveness of electrocoagulation (EC) as pretreatment and its removal mechanism. The electrolysis parameters (current density, initial pH, and inter-electrode distance) were considered, and maximal 60.06% of oil removal was achieved at a current density of 15mA/cm2, initial pH of 7, and an inter-electrode distance of 2cm. The dispersed oil of WLORW was relatively easily removed, and most of the oil removal was contributed by emulsified oil within 5-10μm. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that effective removal of the biorefractory organic compounds could contribute to the improvement of biodegradability of WLORW. Thus, the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand ratio (BOD5/COD) was significantly enhanced by 4.31 times, which highly benefits future biological treatment. The routes of WLORW removal could be concluded as charge neutralization, adsorption bridging, sweep flocculation, and air flotation. The results demonstrate that EC has potential as an effective pretreatment technology for WLORW biological treatment.

Enhancement of biogas production from sugarcane molasses-based distillery wastewater with electrocoagulation pretreatment using iron electrodes

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of distillery wastewater (DW) is not optimal because DW contains too high chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations. This research aimed to enhance biogas yield from DW with electrocoagulation (EC) pretreatment using iron electrodes. The novelty of this study is the combination of EC-AD for producing biogas from DW. The EC pretreatment was operated at various current densities of 39.31, 47.17, and 55.03 mA/cm2 for 8 h. Then, the supernatants were fed into the anaerobic digesters. The results showed that EC at 39.31, 47.17, and 55.03 mA/cm2 can decrease COD from 116,130 mg-O2/L to 93,976, 85,122, and 76,033 mg-O2/L. The AD with EC pretreatment at 39.31, 47.17, and 55.03 mA/cm2 resulted in biogas yields 6.8-fold, 11-fold, and 12-fold higher than the AD without pretreatment. The future research prospects are the techno-economic analysis and feasibility study of the combination of EC-AD for treating DW.

Treatment of salt from hides curing stage by electrocoagulation for use in the pickling stage of the tanning industry

The raw materials for the tanning industry, namely hides and skins, are preserved (curing stage) and carried with common salt, i.e., sodium chloride (NaCl). Proceeding to conversion into leather, pickling is a key stage of the tannery process, which entails high demand of water and salt. In this work, the salt-derived brine (SdB) generated from the curing of hides was treated by iron-driven electrocoagulation (EC), aiming at its later application in the pickling stage of the tanning industry, promoting a transition to zero waste emission policy. Focusing on reducing the brine's total organic carbon (TOC), central composite rotational design and response surface methodology were adopted to study the effect of electrolysis time (6.2–14.2 min) and current density (74–431 A·m−2) on the treatment of the SdB (≅ 7.5 % wt. NaCl). The quality of the treated brines was then assessed in pickling trials and compared with virgin brine. 68–83 % removal of TOC from the SdB were achieved under electrolysis time ranging 6.2–14.2 min and current density ranging 126–252 A·m−2. Under these operating ranges the quality of the wet-blue leathers was guaranteed. Lowest power consumption (0.44 kWh·m−3) was achieved under electrolysis time of 6 min and current density of 126 A·m−2, yielding 68 % removal of TOC. Moreover, the shrinkage temperature of the hides was improved with treated brine (103.5 °C–110.5 °C) compared to virgin brine (103.0 °C). The present study provides strong evidence that contaminated salt from the curing stage can be valorised within the tanning industry through electrocoagulation treatment and then used in another production stage, instead of being landfilled.