Pre-Treatment of Pistachio Processing Industry Wastewaters (PPIW) by Electrocoagulation using Al Plate Electrode

The objective of the present study is to assess the efficiency of electro-coagulation treatment of pistachio processing industry wastewaters (PPIW) using an aluminum plate electrode. The effect of some of the parameters was examined on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total phenols (TP) removal efficiency. The treatment was carried out in a batch system. The influences of current density (from 1 to 6 mA cm(-2)), initial pH of wastewater (from 2 to 8), constant pH of wastewater (from 3 to 7), stirring speed (from 100 to 500 rpm), and supporting electrolyte concentration (from 10 to 50 mg L-1 NaCl) on removal efficiency were investigated to determine the best experimental conditions. The evaluation of the physico-chemical parameters during the treatment by electrocoagulation showed that the best removal efficiency was obtained under the conditions of 180 min electrolysis time, wastewater with constant pH of 6, and 6 - mA cm(-2) current density. Under such experimental conditions, COD, TOC, and TP removal efficiency were found to be 60.1%, 50.2%, and 77.3%, respectively, while energy consumption was 39.6 kW-h m(-3). The results of the study show that the electrocoagulation can be applied to PPIW pre-treatment.