The Treatment of Hospital Wastewater Using Electrocoagulation Process – Analysis by Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

Electrocoagulation (EC) can be defined a method utilized to remove pollutants from wastewater by applying an electric current to sacrificial electrodes. Many experimental variables like NaCl content (0–4 g/l), current density (5–25 mA/cm2), time (30–90 mins), and pH (4–10) that influence the removal efficiency regarding COD were considered. In the presented research, three distinct configurations related to electrodes, i.e. Al-Al, Fe-Al, and Fe-Fe, have been utilized to determine which was the most effective. RSM depending on BBD was utilized for optimizing various operational parameters with regard to HWW by use of EC. Maximum COD removal (97.9%) was reached at Fe-Al electrodes, NaCl (3.2 g/l), current density (24.7 mA/cm2), time (81.7 mins), and pH (7.4). COD removal (91.3%) was achieved at the Al-Al electrodes, NaCl (3.8 g/l), current density(23.5 mA/cm2), time-86.3 min, and Ph (7.7). At the Fe-Fe electrodes, the removal of COD (89.5%) was obtained at NaCl (2.3 g/l), current density (24.6 mA/cm2), pH 8.5, and time (86.9 min). This indicates that EC could remove pollutants from different types of wastewaters under many operating parameters and with arrangements of electrodes