title: Can electrocoagulation process be an appropriate technology for phosphorus removal from municipal wastewater?
abstract: This paper evaluated a novel pilot scale electrocoagulation (EC) system for improving total phosphorus (TP) removal from municipal wastewater. This EC system was operated in continuous and batch operating mode under differing conditions (e.g. flow rate, initial concentration, electrolysis time, conductivity, voltage) to evaluate correlative phosphorus and electrical energy consumption. The results demonstrated that the EC system could effectively remove phosphorus to meet current stringent discharge standards of less than 0.2mg/L within 2 to 5min. This target was achieved in all ranges of initial TP concentrations studied. It was also found that an increase in conductivity of solution, voltages, or electrolysis time, correlated with improved TP removal efficiency and reduced specific energy consumption. Based on these results, some key economic considerations, such as operating costs, cost-effectiveness, product manufacturing feasibility, facility design and retrofitting, and program implementation are also discussed. This EC process can conclusively be highly efficient in a relatively simple, easily managed, and cost-effective for wastewater treatment system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Energy & Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea; Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: D Duc
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia. Electronic address: huuhao.ngo@uts.edu.au.
authors.forename: H Hao
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia.
authors.forename: T Thanh
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Energy & Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soon W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Water Resource, Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), 16419, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Dankook University, 448-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: chemyoon@unitel.co.kr.
authors.forename: Yong S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Yoon
mesh_terms: D004564:Electrocoagulation; D004566:Electrodes; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Electrocoagulation; Energy consumption; Iron consumption; Iron electrode; Phosphorus removal