Electrocoagulation (EC) is one of the effective ways of removing colour, turbidity and chemical oxygen demand from wastewater. In spite of the high-power consumption, EC has been gaining increasingly more attention due to its simplicity and effectiveness compared to the technical challenges and costs of conventional processes. Conductivity and pH are the main factors that affect the efficiency of wastewater treatment and its cost. Controlling the conductivity and pH of a wastewater treatment system is very important since it directly determines the amount of energy that must be used. We propose the use of fuzzy logic to control both conductivity and pH during the EC process, and we apply this approach in the treatment of textile wastewater. Removal efficiencies and operating costs of the EC process for dynamic and fuzzy-controlled cases are compared.
The removal efficiencies of electrocoagulation (EC) systems are highly dependent on the initial value of pH. If an EC system has an acidic influent, the pH of the effluent increases during the treatment process; conversely, if such a system has an alkaline influent, the pH of the effluent decreases during the treatment process. Thus, changes in the pH of the wastewater affect the efficiency of the EC process. In this study, we investigated the dynamic effects of pH. To evaluate approaches for preventing increases in the pH of the system, the MATLAB/Simulink program was used to develop and evaluate an on-line computer-based system for pH control. The aim of this work was to study Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control and fuzzy control of the pH of a real textile wastewater purification process using EC. The performances and dynamic behaviors of these two control systems were evaluated based on determinations of COD, colour, and turbidity removal efficiencies.
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