Degradation of pesticide-contaminated wastewater (coragen) using electrocoagulation process with iron electrodes

• Published in: Desalination and water treatment 2019-10, Vol.165, p.103-110
• Main Authors: Ramya, Thangamani, Premkumar, Periyaraman, Thanarasu, Amudha, Velayutham, Karthikeyan, Dhanasekaran, Anuradha, Sivanesan, Subramanian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-3986
• DOI: 10.5004/dwt.2019.24409

The electrocoagulation of coragen-contaminated wastewater for the removal of pollutants was investigated using iron electrodes. The effect of process variables such as initial pH, current density, electrolysis time of the sample and electrode materials in the degradation of coragen was also studied. During various stages of electrolysis, parameters such as COD, chloride and bromide ion concentrations were examined. The maximum removal efficiency i.e., 79% for chemical oxygen demand (COD) was achieved at pH 7 operated at a current density of 7.5 mA/cm2 with 2.5 mg/L electrolyte (NaCl) concentration and 150 min of electrolysis using iron electrodes. Neutral pH results in the maximum reduction of COD compared to alkaline and acidic pH solution. To be specific, an increase in current density and process time led to increase in COD removal. Moreover, iron electrodes showed maximum removal of COD (79%), chloride (78%) and bromide (77%). The degradation of coragen was further confirmed using FTIR and GC-MS. The experimental results indicate that the electrocoagulation process effectively reduces the COD from coragen-contaminated wastewater. Keywords: Iron electrode; Coragen; Chlorantraniliprole; Ryanodine; COD; Bromide