Abstract
Electrocoagulation (EC) was applied for elimination of dissolved Fe3+ ions from model contaminated water. Electrochemical experiments were performed using a coagulation set-up with the volume of storage tank of 50L.
To represent inorganic contamination, FeCl36H(2)O was chosen as a model pollutant; its concentration was equal to 50mg/L. Experiments were carried out by circulating model effluent (1 pass) through the cell at a flow rate (40L/h) whilst operating the power supply in galvanostatic mode.
Dosing concentration was varying by changing the input current between set points and holding for sufficient time for steady state to be reached and for a sample to be collected. The process using the steel electrode reached removal efficiency up to 99%, depending on pH, and proved to be very suitable for elimination of dissolved Fe3+ ions from water.
However, electrochemical experiments using the aluminum electrode reached removal efficiency only up to 25%. The different efficiency of two anodes is probably due to lower adsorption capacity of hydrous aluminum oxide for iron ions in comparison to hydrous ferric oxides.
Produced nanostructured flocs were subsequently filtered, dried, and characterized by N-2 physisorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Obtained characteristics synchronously demonstrate different tendencies of Al and Fe nanostructured flocs. [GRAPHICS] .