Hydrogen production from municipal wastewaters via electrohydrolysis process

Nowadays, studies investigating alternative treatment processes for domestic wastewater have gained momentum. Rather than using conventional treatment plants which require energy and high amount of chemicals in order to treat the wastewaters, it is a viable option to use effective methods and to get clean energy in the form of hydrogen with alternative methods. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of electrohydrolysis process on domestic wastewater treatability at different DC voltages (4, 6, 8 and 10 V). Maximum hydrogen production was obtained from 8 V DC for 4 h reaction time. Under optimum conditions (8 V DC and 4 h operation time), 82% turbidity, 75% color, 86% TSS, 84% COD, 82% sCOD, 75% BOD, 38% oil and 40% total coliform removal efficiencies were achieved, respectively. It is a huge advantage to use this method which meets effluent discharge standards in such a short time without biological sludge production requiring additional operating cost. It has been shown that with the electrohydrolysis method, sustainable clean energy production and simultaneous pollution reduction can be achieved for domestic wastewater.