Electrochemical oxidation of table olive processing wastewater over boron-doped diamond electrodes: Treatment optimization by factorial design

The electrochemical treatment of an effluent from edible olive processing over boron-doped diamond electrodes was investigated. The effect of operating conditions, such as initial organic loading (from 1340 to 5370 mg/L chemical oxygen demand (COD)), reaction time (from 30 to 120 min), current intensity (from 5 to 14 A), initial pH (from 3 to 7) and the use of 500 mg/L H2O2 as an additional oxidant, on treatment efficiency was assessed implementing a factorial experimental design. Of the five parameters tested, the first three had a considerable effect on COD and total phenols removal, while the other two were statistically insignificant. In most cases, high levels of phenols degradation and decolorization were achieved followed by moderate mineralization. The analysis was repeated at more intense conditions, i.e., initial COD up to 10,000 mg/L, reaction times up to 240 min and current up to 30 A; at this level, the effect of treatment time and applied current was far more important than the starting COD concentration. Treatment for 14 h at optimal conditions (30 A and an initial loading of about 10,000 mg/L) led to 73% COD removal with a zero-order kinetic constant of 8.5 mg/(L min) and an energy consumption efficiency of 16.3 g COD/(m3 A h).