Treatment of Industrial Wastewater Containing Nitrogenous Compound by Electro-Oxidation Process

Abstract

The dissertation demonstrates the electro-oxidative treatment of nitrogenous compound and its significance in the removal. As proliferation of hazardous organic pollutants in the environment becomes the greatest manifestation of industrial wastewater, development of effective chemical strategies have intervened. The toxic nitrogenous pollutants pose environmental and health implications like persistence, biomagnification, mutagenic or carcinogenic nature, endocrine disruption and genotoxicity. Using Aluminium(Al) and Ti/RuO2 electrodes, the study has been investigated. Synthetic Industrial Wastewater(SIW) was prepared by an aromatic compound with ethanol and NaCl mixed in distilled water(DW). For experimental design and analysis of data based on response surface methodology (RSM), central composite design (CCD) was used. These organic pollutants cannot be effectively treated with biological wastewater treatment methods or physical separation methods due to non-biodegradable or bio-recalcitrant nature. Also, chemical coagulation, adsorption and incineration cannot be effectively implemented. Against this backdrop, the electrochemical treatment methods are significant and relevant. Many pollutants undergo direct oxidation at the anode through electrochemical charge transfer while others follow indirect oxidation. The anode material, the inter-electrode potential, current density and the supporting electrolyte have all been found to affect the process. Thus, synthetic wastewater containing a carcinogenic aromatic compound was prepared for each run and its removal efficiency was studied under thirty different conditions of pre-defined varying current, pH and initial concentration. By keeping voltage usage in notice, energy consumption was derived for each reaction condition.