Nitrate Removal from Synthetic Industrial Wastewater by Using Electrocoagulation with monopolar Fe-Fe Electrodes

Abstract

This work investigates the possibility of removing nitrate electro coagulation ions from synthetic industrial wastewater by using monopolar Fe-Fe electrodes in a batch electrochemical unit. Variables studied were current density, initial nitrate concentration, electrolysis time and supporting electrolyte. The results show that for initial concentration of 630 mg/L complete removal (100 %) of nitrate was noted at the current densities of 45 mA/cm2 with a total energy consumption of 115 kWh/m3, after 60 min of EC treatment, whereas when supporting electrolyte concentrations of 29 mg/L (NaCl) was used, complete removal of nitrate was noted at the current densities of 10 mA/cm2 with a total energy consumption of 1.88 kWh/m3 after 10 min of EC treatment. The results suggest that the process is effective for nitrate removal from synthetic industrial wastewater, and the economy of the process is favored by adding very small supporting electrolyte.