Effect of operational parameters on dye removal of textile wastewater by electrocoagulation process using zinc electrode

Abstract

Electrocoagulation is a promising technology that could effectively replace conventional wastewater treatment processes. Optimization of operating parameters might increase dye removal efficiency. Zinc electrode could help in improvement of treatment performance of textile wastewater. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of operating parameters on the treatment of textile wastewater using zinc electrode. The performance of electrocoagulation process for treatment of a synthetic textile wastewater (prepared using reactive blue 261 dye) and a real textile wastewater was investigated. The operating parameters involved in this study were current density (2-8 mA/cm2), initial dye concentration (20-100 mg/L) and initial pH (5-9). The preliminary study was conducted using synthetic textile wastewater to determine the optimum operating conditions that would lead to high dye removal. The optimal conditions were a current density of 4 mA/cm2, an initial dye concentration of 100 mg/L and an initial pH of 9. The highest dye removal was recorded at 99.8% for treating of synthetic textile wastewater while a dye removal of 83.7% was achieved during treatment of real textile wastewater under the optimum operating conditions.