Electrochemical Oxidation of Two Phenolic Compounds: Evaluation of Kinetics and Energy Consumption

• Published in: ECS transactions 2019-10, Vol.94 (1), p.181-187
• Main Authors: Escudero, Carlos Javier, Rivero Martínez, María José, Ortiz Uribe, Inmaculada
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1938-5862; 1938-6737; 1938-6737; 1938-5862
• DOI: 10.1149/09401.0181ecst

Bisphenol A (BPA) and p-cresol are two phenolic compounds present in industrial wastewater and they are harmful to the environment. Electrochemical oxidation is a technology that has the ease of coupling to other treatment systems and is environmentally friendly. In this study, electrochemical oxidation of 100 mg/L of BPA and 50 mg/L of p-cresol were tasted using Boron Doped diamond (BDD) anodes. The results aim that the pseudo-first order kinetic constants (k) had the same order of magnitude for both compounds. Slightly higher values of k were obtained when using a J of 250 A/m2 than other conditions, removing the pollutants in less than 120 min; while the mineralization was completed around 240 and 210 min, respectively. To compare the energy consumption, the parameter Electrical Energy per Order was used, obtaining that to eliminate 90% of the compounds it is required between 6-8 kW·h/m3·order and 60 kW·h/m3·order for the mineralization.