An alternative treatment process for upgrade of petroleum refinery wastewater using electrocoagulation

CATEGORY: WASTEWATER TREATMENT
Petroleum Science, September 2013, Volume 10, Issue 3, pp 421-430
An alternative treatment process for upgrade of petroleum refinery wastewater using electrocoagulation
Dhorgham Skban Ibrahim,
Mohan Lathalakshmi, Appusamy Muthukrishnaraj, Natesan Balasubramanian
1. Department of Chemical Engineering, AC Tech Campus, Anna University, Chennai, 600025, India
2. Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Abstract
Describes an electrocoagulation treatment process developed for treatment and upgrade of petroleum refinery effluent.  Conventional methods can consume higher amounts of chemicals and produce larger amounts of sludge.
Researchers studied the effect of operation parameters, such as current density, initial pH, anode material, anode dissolution, energy consumption and electrolysis time, on treatment efficiency. Experimental results revealed that the effluent can be effectively treated under optimal conditions. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of the effluent, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) of the sludge produced, showed that unwanted pollutants can be eliminated. Researchers evaluated the electrocoagulation treatment process by employing the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and the general physicochemical characteristics of wastewater. Results demonstrated that the electrocoagulation is faster and provides better quality of treated water than conventional methods.
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