Applicability of an electrochemical Fenton-type process to actual wastewater treatment

• Published in: Water science and technology Vol. 72; no. 6; pp. 850 - 857
• Main Authors: Kishimoto, Naoyuki, Kitamura, Takuya, Nakamura, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IWA Publishing 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Acids; Activated sludge; Automobiles; Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; Chelating agents; Chemical oxygen demand; Cleaning; Coagulation; Color; Color removal; Colour; Current efficiency; Decoloring; Decolorization; Desalination; Electrochemical Techniques - methods; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Engineering; Environmental engineering; Hydrogen Peroxide; Metal industry wastewaters; Metal scrap; Metals; Motor vehicles; Municipal wastewater; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction; Removal; Sewage - chemistry; Sludge; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Waste Water - chemistry; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Water Purification - methods; Japan
• ISSN: 0273-1223; 1996-9732
• DOI: 10.2166/wst.2015.279

The applicability of an electrochemical Fenton-type process (EF-HOCl-ReFe) to the treatment of three actual wastewaters, namely wastewater from an automobile factory (automobile wastewater), metal scrap-cleansing wastewater, and municipal wastewater, is discussed in this research. The EF-HOCl-ReFe successfully removed the chemical oxygen demand (COD) from automobile wastewater pre-treated by a coagulation process without any inhibition. The apparent current efficiency reached 86%, 46% of which was ascribed to the electrochemical Fenton-type mechanism. The metal scrap-cleansing wastewater had a yellow colour and high concentrations of COD (6550 mg/L) and Cl(-) (1560 mM). The EF-HOCl-ReFe could achieve almost complete COD removal and decolourization after 48 h of treatment, although a temporary intensification of colour was observed before the decolourization. The EF-HOCl-ReFe was also effective in the removal of 1,4-dioxane from municipal wastewater pre-treated by activated sludge and coagulation processes, which were unable to remove 1,4-dioxane. The 1,4-dioxane removal efficiency after 30 min of treatment reached 68.5%. Thus, the EF-HOCl-ReFe was applicable to the treatment of these actual wastewaters.