Heavy Metal Removal from Steel Industry Wastewater by Electrocoagulation

Abstract

Electrocogulation (EC) is the chemical process used for the removal of heavy metals present in wastewater .This process is mainly applied for the industrial wastewater. This is an emerging technique in water and wastewater treatment, because of its versatility, environmental compatibility and ability to offer significant process efficiency at low capital and operation cost. The setup consists of 8 rods made up of aluminum and iron respectively. In addition to this main reaction, several side reactions, such as hydrogen bubble formation and the reduction of the metals on cathodes, also take place in the cell. According to results of this study, aluminum is more suitable electrode material for electrocoagulation applications because it produces Al(III) species. Metal ions and hydroxides produced by iron electrodes are less effective in the destabilization of pollutants because iron electrodes produce more soluble and less charged Fe(II) species. The aim of this study was to remove the heavy metals from the steel industry waste water. Various parameters are mentioned such as temperature, current density and pH of the wastewater which are essential for the electrocoagulation. The electrodes are connected in parallel modes. To check the effect of electrode spacing, three electrode positions were selected i.e., 0.5 cm, 1 cm and 1.5 cm. The voltage applied was 0.20 Volt and current passed 4.98 Ampere. Time interval is 30 minutes throughout the process. The temperature value was found to be 30°C. Electrocogulation is the technique used to remove the heavy metals from the contaminated industrial wastewater. There are mainly heavy metals present in steel and iron industry. The most common heavy metal present in these industries is lead.