Treatment of sugar processing industry wastewater using copper electrode by electrocoagulation: Performance and economic study

• Published in: Journal of the Indian Chemical Society 2022-08, Vol.99 (8), p.100563, Article 100563
• Main Authors: Patel, Ratnesh Kumar, Shankar, Ravi, Khare, Prateek, Mondal, Prasenjit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COD removal; Electrocoagulation; Low grade fuel; SPIW; Treatment cost
• ISSN: 0019-4522
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jics.2022.100563

This paper demonstrates the use of copper electrode for the treatment of sugar processing industry wastewater (SPIW) in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) by applying electrocoagulation (EC) method. EC process was carried out in batch mode with electrode effective area of 0.0112 m2, supplied current intensity (CI) of 44.64 A/m2 - 223.21 A/m2, electrode gap (EG) of 0.5–2.5 cm, electrolyte (NaCl) dose (ED) of 0.5–2.5 g/L to treat SPIW with initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 6000 mg/L. The maximum COD removal 73% of SPIW is achieved at optimized condition of SPIW pH: 7, CI: 89.28 A/m2, EG: 1.5 cm & ED: 1.5 g/L. Sludge and scum generated during EC process were characterized by FTIR, TGA/DTA/DTG, proximate & ultimate analysis to find its applicability and their disposal. Additionally, economic study of EC treatment process at optimum condition suggest treatment cost was 11.2 US$/m3 and it indicate economic results as comparison to other available treatment processes. [Display omitted]