Treatment of vinegar industry wastewater by electrocoagulation with monopolar aluminum and iron electrodes and toxicity evaluation

Abstract

Abstract We present electrocoagulation (EC) treatment results of vinegar industry wastewater (VIW) using parallel plate aluminum and iron electrodes, and analyze the toxicity of the treatment processes. Due to the chemical complexity of vinegar production wastewater, several parameters are expected to alter the treatment efficiency. Particularly, current density, initial pH, Na2SO4 as support electrolyte, polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and kerafloc are investigated for their effects on chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. Following several treatment experiments with real wastewater samples, aluminum-plate electrodes were able to reach to a removal efficiency of 90.91% at pH 4, 10 mg/L PAC and an electrical current density of 20.00 mA/cm2, whereas iron-plate electrodes reached to a removal efficiency of 93.60% at pH 9, 22.50 mA/cm2 current density. Although EC processes reduce COD, the usefulness of the system may not be assessed without considering the resultant toxicity. For this purpose, microtox toxicity tests were carried out for the highest COD removal case. It was observed that the process reduces toxicity, as well as the COD. Consequently, it is concluded that EC with aluminum and iron electrodes is COD removal-wise and toxicity reduction-wise a plausible method for treatment of VIW, which has high organic pollutants.