[Investigation of TOC removal from industrial wastewaters using Electrocoagulation process]

ABSTRACT

Formaldehyde and phenol are key precursors in the industrial manufacture of resins. Toxicity of these compounds prevents function of microbial populations, so they affect the biological treatments. The aim of this study was investigation of TOC removal from phenol-formaldehyde resin manufacturing wastewater by electrocoagulation using Al- electrodes. This study is the laboratory scale experiment was conducted as a pilot. Wastewater sample was adjusted in the desired pH, electrical conductivity and current density, then it was placed into the reactor contains four electrodes in aluminum. The electrodes were connected to a DC power supply [0-40V, 0-3A]. Samples were collected for TOC determination in the middle of cell at regular time intervals. Collected samples were analyzed using TOC analyzer. The results indicated that the optimum conditions for the removal of TOC were current density 75 A/m2, solution pH 4 and Conductivity 3 mS/cm. In this condition energy consumption was found 22.5 kWh m-3 after 60 min reaction. This study shows that electrocoagulation of wastewater from phenol-formaldehyde resin manufacturing can be used as a pretreatment process