Organic matter removal from mother liquor of gas field wastewater by electro-Fenton process with the addition of H2O2: Effect of initial pH

Abstract

The electro-Fenton (EF) process was applied to treat mother liquor of gas field wastewater (ML-GFW). The Fe-Fe electrodes were used and H2O2 was added to the EF system. Effect of initial pH on chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency, specific electrical energy consumption (SEEC), specific electrode plate consumption (SEPC) and organic matter removal mechanism was investigated. The results showed that COD removal efficiency reached the maximum (71.9%) at initial pH of 3 after reaction for 3 h. Besides, considering with the SEEC and SEPC, pH of 3 was also the best choice, at which SEEC was 4.7 kW h kgCOD−1, SEPC was 0.82 kgFe kgCOD−1. Organic matter removal was achieved by two ways: oxidation and flocculation, and oxidation played a major role. With the analysis of GC-MS, the possible degradation pathways of the representative contaminants in the ML-GFW were given.