Study of Electrocoagulation Process Performance by Iron and Aluminum Electrodes and Effectof Electrodes Connection Types in Removal of Furfural from Wastewater

In recent years, Electrocoagulation process (ECP) method has attracted great attention as an ecofriendly and cost-effective process to treat broad range of inorganic and organic contaminants from water and wastewater. The efficacy of an ECP was evaluated for the treatment of furfural from wastewater. In experimental study, the batch mode of operation of ECP an approximate volume of 500 ml which is equipped with four Fe-Fe, Al-Al and Al-Fe electrodes (150*50*1mm) that were connected in three modes namely, mono polar parallel (MP-P), monopolar-serial (MP-S), and bipolar-serial (BP-S). The effect of operating parameters such as electrodes connection, type of electrodes, wastewater pH (3-9), applied voltage (5 - 25 v), concentration of furfural (100 - 1000 mg/l) and reaction times (2- 30 minutes) were evaluated.Concentration of furfural was determined using spectrophotometer at wavelength of 278 nm. Experimental data showed that the maximum furfural removal (92%) was achieved using Fe-Al as the anode–cathode electrode arrangement in mono-pollar serial connection and neutral pH level. The increase in voltage from 5 to 25v at optimum electrode and pH conditions increased furfural removal from 65% to 92% during the ECP. This study indicated that the types of electrode used and electrodes connecttion modeare very important in ECP. Finally, experimental data suggested that the ECP could be efficient in eliminating furfural from wastewater and thus may be a promising technique for treating contaminated stream.