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lker BAKIR OGUTVEREN
Anadolu University
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gu tveren
Ebru Onder,
Ali Savas Koparal , Ulker
Bakr O
Anadolu University, Iki Eylul Campus, Applied Research Center for Environmental Problems, 26480 Eskisehir, Turkey
Received 24 March 2006; received in revised form 9 June 2006; accepted 11 June 2006
Abstract
Feasibility of the removal of surfactants from model solution and the polluted water sample by electrochemical coagulation utilizing Fe2+ ions
from a soluble anode as an alternative method was investigated in this study. As a result of the studies the removal of surfactant having a concentration
of 10 mg L1 has been achieved with an efficiency of 100%. Experiments were conducted to examine the effects of applied current density, initial
concentration, supporting electrolyte concentration, coagulant dosage and pH on the removal efficiency. Energy consumption was calculated for
each experiment and optimum conditions have been determined. Addition of ferrous sulphate and hydrogen peroxide was seen to enhance the
efficiency of the process. The polarity of the reactor played an important role in the treatment of surfactants. Electrochemical coagulation of the
water sample from a local stream has also been conducted in high efficiencies. The results suggest that electrochemical coagulation is a promising
method for the treatment of water polluted by detergents.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Electrochemical coagulation; Surfactant; Detergent
1. Introduction
Water is one of the abundantly available resources in nature
and is essential for animal and plant life. Pollution of water
bodies is increasing steadily due to industrial application and
urbanization. Nowadays, the worldwide production and use of
chemical compounds such as surfactant have increased tremendously which find their way into the environment. Many of these
compounds are biologically non-degradable and threat for environmental conservation [1].
Detergents are used to aid in cleaning equipment and surfaces
by restaurants, dairy farms, and food processing plants and are
among the basic constituents of organic pollutants in domestic
as well as industrial wastewaters causing great environmental
damages [2]. Due to their high volume use, detergent chemicals
have the potential for broadscale release into aquatic and terrestrial environment. It is quite frequent, especially in rural areas
with no sewerage system, municipal and industrial wastewater
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 222 3213550x6406; fax: +90 222 3239501.
(U.B.
O
1383-5866/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2006.06.006
E. Onder
et al. / Separation and Purication Technology 52 (2007) 527532
528
coagulation, which is one of these techniques is the electrochemical production of destabilization agents that brings about
charge neutralization for pollutant removal and it has been used
for water or wastewater treatment. In this technique, ferrous ions
generated at the anode is oxidized to the ferric state with dissolved oxygen in the water which reacts with hydroxide ions
formed at the cathode causing a coprecipitation of the impurities with the insoluble ferric hydroxide. The reactions at the
anode, cathode and in the bulk solution are as follows:
At the cathode:
2H2 O + 2e H2 + 2OH
(1)
At the anode:
Fe Fe2+ + 2OH
O2
Fe2+ Fe3+
(2)
(3)
(4)
E. Onder
et al. / Separation and Purication Technology 52 (2007) 527532
IVt
(C0 C)Q
where I is the applied current (A), V the potential value (V), t the
time (h), C0 the initial concentration of the surfactant (mg L1 ),
C the concentration of the surfactant at any time (mg L1 ) and
Q is the flow rate of the model solution.
529
E. Onder
et al. / Separation and Purication Technology 52 (2007) 527532
530
Fig. 4. Variation of removal efficiency and energy consumption for two different
initial concentration of LAS (applied current density: 0.460 mA cm2 ).
ItM
nF
(5)
where M is the molecular weight of iron, n the number of electrons transferred in the reactor and F is the Faradays constant
(96,500 C mol1 ). From this point of view, electrode consumption per liter of treated water increased significantly with
increase in current density being equal 0.298 and 0.373 g L1
for 0.368 and 0.460 mA cm2 , respectively.
3.1.2. Initial concentration
The variation of removal efficiency and energy consumption
for two initial concentrations of 10 and 50 mg L1 have shown in
Fig. 4. As it can be seen from this figure that an increase in initial
concentration has resulted in a decrease in removal efficiency.
This is likely due to lack of coagulant for adsorbing excess surfactant in high concentration since total amount of coagulant
(i.e. Fe(OH)3 ) is constant for all surfactant concentrations at the
same conditions. Specific energy consumption with 50 mg L1
was lower than that of 10 mg L1 because the amount of surfactant removed per unit time for the same removal efficiency was
larger.
To observe the effect of type of surfactant on the removal efficiency of the process, sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) has also
been used in a model solution. LAS concentration was obtained
to be 1 mg L1 whereas SLES concentration was 2.5 mg L1
at the same time period of 10 min. This result has shown that
the removal of surfactant can be achieved effectively by electrochemical coagulation with both type of surfactant.
3.1.3. Supporting electrolyte
One of the important factors for the electrochemical processes, which consist of heterogeneous electron transfer reactions at the electrode surface is the conductivity of the solution
to be treated [17]. On the other hand, essential mechanism in
E. Onder
et al. / Separation and Purication Technology 52 (2007) 527532
Fig. 6. Effect of 0.01 M FeSO4 and 0.05 M H2 O2 on the removal efficiency and
energy consumption (initial concentration: 300 mg L1 ; applied current density:
0.460 mA cm2 ).
531
Fig. 8. Effect of the polarization of the reactor on the removal efficiency and
energy consumption (initial concentration: 10 mg L1 ; applied current density:
0.460 mA cm2 ).
Fig. 7. Effect of pH on removal efficiency and energy consumption (initial concentration: 50 mg L1 ; applied current density: 0.368 mA cm2 ).
532
E. Onder
et al. / Separation and Purication Technology 52 (2007) 527532
Table 1
The characteristics of the water sample from the local river before and after
electrochemical coagulation (surfactant concentration: 12.66 mg L1 )
Before treatment
After treatment
91
48
58
1.08
8.44
36
16
14
0.29
8.03
low energy consumption of 0.012 kWh g1 by applying electrochemical coagulation. Moreover, the final pH of the treated
water within the discharge limit and needs no pH adjustment.
Consequently, electrocoagulation can be considered as a suitable
method for removing surfactants from waters.
Acknowledgement
This study was supported by Anadolu University Research
Fund.
References
Fig. 9. Variation of removal efficiency and energy consumption with time for
the polluted water sample (initial concentration: 12.66 mg L1 ; applied current
density: 0.460 mA cm2 ).