Performance Evaluation of Electrochemical Process using Iron and Aluminum Electrodes in Phenol Removal from Synthetic Aqueous Environment

Phenol is one of the most important organic chemicals presenting in water and other environments. It not only brings about hygienic problems but also results in forming 11 toxic priority pollutants in aqueous environments. Hence, the performance of electrocoagulation process using iron and aluminum sacrificial anodes was investigated for removal of phenol.

We used a glass tank in 1.56 L volume (effective volume 1 L) equipped with four iron and aluminum plate electrodes to do experiments (bipolar mode). The tank was filled with synthetic wastewater containing phenol in concentration of 5, 20, 40, and 70 mg/l and to follow the progress of the treatment, each sample was taken at 20 min intervals for up to 80 min. The percent of phenol removal was measured at pH 3, 5, 7, and 9; electrical potential range of 20, 40, and 60 volts; and electrical conductivity of 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000 µs/cm.

It was found that the most effective removal capacities of phenol (95 and 98 %) could be achieved when the pH was kept 7 and 5 for iron and aluminum electrodes, reaction time 80 min, electrical conductivity 3000 µs/cm, initial concentration of phenol 5 mg/l, and electrical potential in the range of 20-60 V.

The method was found to be highly efficient and relatively fast compared with existing conventional techniques and also it can be concluded that the electrochemical process has the potential to be utilized for the cost-effective removal of phenol from water and wastewater.