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The Combination of Electrocoagulation and Enhanced Electrooxidation for the Treatment of Petrochemical Wastewater: Biodegradability Studies

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Abstract

In this study, electrocoagulation (EC) followed by enhanced electrooxidation (EO) was harnessed to treat a real petrochemical wastewater (PWW). In EC process, two kinds of aluminum and iron electrodes were used and under optimal condition (200 mA applied current) COD removal was achieved 42% and 38% for Al and Fe electrodes, respectively. Combined treatment methods of EO/UV, EO/US, and EO/Fe(II) were assessed in comparison with single EO and COD removal efficiencies of 68, 65, and 60% were obtained for EO/UV, EO/Fe(II), and EO/US processes, respectively. The best COD, TOC, and color removal efficiencies were attained for EO/UV/Fe(II) process being 80, 69, and 91%, respectively. The average oxidation state (AOS) and biodegradability index (BI) of the raw and treated samples by various methods were evaluated and the best promising results were obtained for EO/UV/Fe(II) process which were 1.1 and 0.52 for AOS and BI respectively. Additionally, Zahn-Wellens test was conducted and sample treated by EO/UV/Fe(II) was superior to samples treated by other methods, and in just 5 days, minimum biodegradability extent of 70% was met and finally reached over 95% which is an extraordinary result. Finally, the toxicity of the effluent was markedly reduced after sequential processes.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research project has been financially supported by Behbahan Faculty of Medical Sciences (Iran) under contract number of IR.BHN.REC.1399.040.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behbahan Faculty of Medical Sciences, Behbahan, Iran

    Rouzhan Feizi

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

    Mohammad Reza Khavari Kashani

  3. Environmental Technologies Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Nematollah Jaafarzadeh & Fatemeh Bazipur

  4. Department of Environmental Engineering, Yıldız Technical University, Davutpaşa Campus, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gamze Varank

  5. Research Center for Environmental Contaminants (RCEC), Abadan University of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Iran

    Farshid Ghanbari

  6. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Abadan University of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Iran

    Farshid Ghanbari

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  1. Rouzhan Feizi
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  2. Mohammad Reza Khavari Kashani
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  3. Nematollah Jaafarzadeh
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Correspondence to Mohammad Reza Khavari Kashani or Farshid Ghanbari.

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Feizi, R., Khavari Kashani, M.R., Jaafarzadeh, N. et al. The Combination of Electrocoagulation and Enhanced Electrooxidation for the Treatment of Petrochemical Wastewater: Biodegradability Studies. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 777 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06789-5

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