Statistical optimization of industrial textile wastewater treatment by electrochemical methods

In this work, the Box-Behnken experimental design and the surface response methodology were applied for the optimization of the operational conditions of the electro-catalytic degradation of wastewaters, resulting from a local textile industry. The experiments were carried out in a laboratory scale batch cell reactor, with monopolar configuration, and electrodes made of boron-doped diamond (anode) and titanium (cathode). The multifactorial experimental design included the following variables: current density (i: 5-10 mA/cm(2)), pH (3-7), and submerged cathode area (CA: 8-24 cm(2)). To determine the process efficiency, the degradation percentage of: the chemical oxygen demand (%DCOD), the total organic carbon (%DTOC) and the color (%DC) were defined as response variables. The following optimal conditions for the electro-oxidation (EO) process were obtained: i = 10 mA/cm(2), pH = 3 and CA = 16 cm(2), reaching ca. 92 % of DC, 37 % of DCOD and 31 % of DTOC. The electro-Fenton (EF) and photo-electro-Fenton (PEF) processes were also evaluated at EO optimal conditions. For the EF process, with addition of iron (0.3 mM), the %DC, %DCOD and %DTOC was enhanced to 95, 52 and 45 %, respectively. For the PEF process (UV = 365 nm), it was possible to reach 98 %DC, 56 %DCOD and 48 %DTOC.