title: Continuous flow electrocoagulation in the treatment of wastewater from dairy industries.
abstract: Dairy industry wastewater contains high levels of organic matter, consisting mainly of fat, protein and products of their partial microbial decomposition. In the present study, the use of continuous electrocoagulation is proposed for the primary treatment of dairy wastewater. The electrochemical treatment was carried out in a continuous flow cell with aluminum electrodes. The influence of the voltage, the distance between the electrodes and the hydraulic residence time (HRT) on the process performance was assessed, by measuring the removal of color, turbidity, total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The optimum voltage, distance between the electrodes and HRT were 10 V, 1 cm and 90 min, respectively, yielding a current density of 13.3 A.m(-2). Under these conditions, removal of color, turbidity, TOC and COD were 94%, 93%, 65% and 69%, respectively, after a steady state was reached in the continuous flow reactor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br; Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul - Campus Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Toni L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Benazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 88040-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Luccio
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Rogério M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Dallago
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steffens
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Rúbia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mores
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Mariele S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Do Nascimento
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Jociane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krebs
authors.affiliation: Department of Science Agrarian, URI-Erechim, Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul 99700-000, Brazil E-mail: rubiamores@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ceni
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D003612:Dairying; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000535:Aluminum; D062065:Wastewater