Treatment of textile effluent by electrocoagulation in a novel reactor to mitigate environmental pollution

Remediation of textile wastewater with conventional technologies is challenging as it contains a significant amount of unfixed dyes in addition to various biodegradable and non-biodegradable chemicals. The present work aims at treating simulated textile wastewater in batch mode through Electro-coagulation by employing a novel perforated three-dimensional rotating aluminum electrode. This electrode aids in avoiding common issues associated with standard plate electrode systems. The combined effect of operating parameters on efficiency was examined using the Taguchi method. The experiments were also conducted on real textile effluents at optimum conditions identified for the simulated textile wastewater. At operating conditions of initial pH 6, electrolyte(sodium chloride) concentration of 3 g/L, current density of 20 mA/cm², rotational speed of 50 rpm and electrolysis time of 40 min, the color and Chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency for simulated textile wastewater of 99.99% and 85.63% were observed at Specific Electrical Energy Consumption of 0.191 J/mg of the Chemical oxygen demand removed and for real textile effluent, color and Chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies of 92–98% and 80–85% respectively were observed for Specific Electrical Energy Consumption ranging between 0.025–0.031 J/mg. On comparing with the literature, it was observed that the energy consumption of three-dimensional rotating electrode for similar removal efficiency is much lower than plate electrodes.