Treatment of Real Municipal Wastewater Using Aluminum Electrode by Electrocoagulation Process: Experimental Design and Process Performance

This study focuses on evaluating the electrocoagulation process as a method for the treatment of real municipal wastewater using aluminum plate electrodes as an anode in a batch electrochemical reactor. An attempt was made to model the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal and Electrical Energy Consumption (EEC) as a function of the critical operating variables for the determination of optimal conditions statistically. The initial pH, current, and reaction time were selected as key independent variables in a five-level Central Composite Design (CCD); at the same time,  COD removal efficiency and EEC were considered as the response function. At the optimum conditions proposed by CCD (pH=6.2, I=0.025A, and T=46 min), a maximum COD removal efficiency of 85.7% with electrical energy consumption of 0.151 kW h/m3 was achieved. In addition, the operating costs, energy; and electrode consumptions at optimum conditions were calculated to be 0.1127079 $/m3, 0.151 kWh/m3; and 0.026 kg/m3, respectively. These results presented here prove that the EC process has good performance and great potential for efficient treatment of real municipal wastewater.