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A novel continuous-flow electrohydraulic discharge process for handling high-conductivity wastewaters

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Abstract

Electrical discharge in liquid is a promising technique to remove pollutants from various industrial and agricultural wastewaters; however, using this technique to treat high-organic-strength wastewater has been hindered by its inability to handle wastewaters with high conductivity due possibly to the reactor design. In this study, a novel electrohydraulic discharge reactor was examined to determine the effect of conductivity and liquid flow rate on liquid temperature, power consumption, and H2O2 production. Liquid conductivity was represented by NaCl solutions at different concentrations (from 100 to 700 mg/L), and two groups of liquid flow rates (24, 48, 73, 98, and 122 mL/min and 36, 61, 86, and 122 mL/min) were employed. The results showed that the optimum liquid flow rate was 48 mL/min for the reactor without significantly increasing the liquid temperature. (The corresponding power consumption was 290 W, and the system production efficiency was 0.86 g H2O2/kWh.) A good power relationship was obtained between the final liquid temperature and the liquid flow rate (R = 0.9836). For H2O2 production, a treatment time of 30 min achieved the highest H2O2 concentration in the liquid, and a further increase in treatment times found little improvement. The optimal water conductivity was 467 µS/cm for producing the highest concentration of H2O2 in the treated water (82 mg/L). The novel electrohydraulic discharge reactor appeared to be able to handle wastewater with much higher conductivity than the reactors examined by previous researchers, so it could potentially be developed into a promising technology for treating high-organic-strength wastewaters.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project IDA01573.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Engineering, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive MS 0904, Moscow, ID 83844-0904, USA

    S. Wu

  2. Environmental Science Program, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA

    A. Krosuri

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  1. S. Wu
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  2. A. Krosuri
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Correspondence to S. Wu.

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Editorial responsibility: Parveen Fatemeh Rupani.

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Wu, S., Krosuri, A. A novel continuous-flow electrohydraulic discharge process for handling high-conductivity wastewaters. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 17, 615–624 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02479-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02479-0

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