An empirical model for treatment of arsenic contaminated underground water by electrocoagulation process employing a bipolar cell configuration with continuous flow

Abstract

Arsenic (As) was removed electrochemically from underground water (GW) by electrocoagulation (EC) process employing a bipolar cell configuration with continuous flow using iron electrodes. A kinetic model derived from the Lagergren equation was applied to specify the kinetics of the arsenic removal reaction. Elucidation of the effect of the liquid flow rate on the treatment time and on the simulation results of the model was achieved. The results showed that treatment times decreased from 10.50 min to 0.75 min as the flow rate decreased from 3.500 to 0.875 L min(-1) and the current density varied from 15 to 45 A m(-2) respectively. The used sorption kinetic model successfully describes the arsenic removal by this process. The coefficients of determination were found to be very high in all cases (R(2)>0.99) indicating a good fit of the experimental data to Lagergren model.

Removal of trace metal contaminants from potable water by electrocoagulation

“…Previous EC experiments have demonstrated promise for removal of metal contaminants to below regulatory levels for drinking water 10 11 12 13 . Studies have also indicated that many individual factors contribute to effective metal removal by EC.…”

“…In addition, electrolytes in the water matrix, such as calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and chloride ions, have been shown to influence floc formation 16 18 19 . Previous reports have used either a single natural water source 9 11 12 13 or simple electrolyte solutions 16 20 21 . Thus, the wide variation in natural waters has not been examined.…”

Arsenic Removal from Natural Groundwater by Electrocoagulation Using Response Surface Methodology

“…The electrocoagulation process is affected by different factors. Among the most important are the treatment time, solution pH, resistance of the aqueous solution, current density, interelectrode distance, water flow rate, and temperature [8][9][10][11][12][13]. To date, a large variety of electrochemical reactor designs have been studied [14]; however, there is no statistical analysis to evaluate systematically the simultaneous behavior of current density and volumetric flow rate in domestic reactors.…”