IRON ELECTROCOAGULATION WITH ENHANCED CATHODIC REDUCTION FOR THE REMOVAL OF AQUEOUS CONTAMINANT MIXTURES

This study presents enhanced reduction of soluble contaminants in a modified electrocoagulation process that is capable of treating a mixture of aqueous contaminants. By incorporating an iron foam cathode, the process can remove aqueous trichloroethylene (TCE) by 99.1% and nitrate ions by 98.2%, which represents 58.1 and 20 percent higher than the removal rates achieved by iron plate cathode, respectively. pH and ORP measurements indicate the development of a reducing electrolyte condition due to the ferrous generation from an iron anode, which facilitates the reduction of soluble contaminants because the competition from O2 reduction is eliminated in the system. Both iron foam and vitreous carbon foam electrodes are compatible with polarity reversal, without any deterioration in the efficiency of electroreduction of TCE and nitrate. The modified iron electrolysis process demonstrates versatility for the treatment of mixtures of contaminants, including a binary mixture of TCE and dichromate, a mixture of selenate and nitrate and a mixture of phosphate and nitrate. The ferrous species generated from the iron anode can reduce and (or) co-precipitate certain aqueous contaminants such as dichromate, selenate and phosphate, while the cathodic process can directly reduce contaminants like TCE and nitrate. Compared with the conventional electrocoagulation system that consists of two planar electrodes, the proposed process is not only more effective, but also suitable for the development of integrated and versatile process for the treatment of co-contaminated wastewater or groundwater.