Ibuprophen Removal from Synthetic Effluents Using Electrocoagulation-Peroxidation (ECP)

Abstract

Concerning water resources, several ordinances and legislation determine standards and conditions for the discharge of effluents into water bodies. However, several contaminants are not covered by these guidelines because they are found in low concentrations and due to little knowledge of their long-term effects. These contaminants are called emergents, and this category includes drugs, such as anti-inflammatory drugs. The electrocoagulation process associated with advanced oxidation comes up as an alternative to conventional effluent treatment processes, and the objective of this work was to evaluate this process using scrap iron as sacrificial electrodes in the treatment of synthetic effluents containing Ibuprofen. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify the drug in synthetic effluents. The CCRD 24 was used in an experimental design, having as independent variables evaluated the concentration of contaminants, applied current, the concentration of the primary oxidizing agent H2O2 and the reaction time. The optimized conditions determined by statistical analysis were drug concentration of 5 mg.L-1, H2O2 concentration of 200 mg.L-1, current of 5 A and 150 min. The removals obtained under these conditions were higher than 92% in the aqueous phase, showing that ECP technique has the potential to treat contaminants such as drugs present in effluents and waters.