An Enhanced Electrocoagulation Process for The Removal Of Fe and Mn from Municipal Wastewater Using Dielectrophoresis (DEP)

Abstract

This study evaluates the removal efficiency of Fe and Mn from primary treated municipal wastewater using new electrodes configuration in electrocoagulation (EC) process. The used electrodes configuration generates a dielectrophoretic (DEP) force in an EC process. The effect of the electrolysis time, electrodes spacing and current density on the removal of Fe and Mn was studied. The maximum removal of Fe and Mn were obtained using operational time of 60 min, electrodes spacing of 0.5 cm and an applied current of 800 mA. Under these operating conditions and using the new electrodes configuration, the Fe and Mn removals were 96.8% and 66%, respectively. The main advantage of using the DEP induced electrode configuration was the minimal consumption of the electrodes. The new electrode configuration showed 42% less aluminum content in the reactor compared to the aluminum electrodes without DEP effect. Moreover, the energy consumption at the selected operation conditions was 4.88 kWh/m3. Additionally, the experimental results were compared with the simulation results of the new electrodes configuration done by COMSOL software