Removal of Total Phosphorus From Municipal Wastewater Using Cylindrical Aluminum Electrode in Continuous Mode

Abstract

This study aimed to apply electro-coagulation method using cylindrical Aluminum electrode in continuous mode to remove total phosphorus (T-P) in municipal wastewater. The effects of NaCl concentration (or conductivity) and hydraulic retention time (HRT, or flow rate) on T-P removal efficiency were investigated. To determine the efficiency of this system the ratio Al consumption/T-P removal was also considered. The results showed that, with raw sewage as influent, HRT = 1.17 min and added NaCl = 0.04 % was found the best conditions for the highest T-P removal efficiency (92.80 %; T-P concentration remainder was 0.17 mg/L) and the ratio Al consumption/T-P removal was 5.0. In general, this method achieves a high efficiency of removing phosphorus from wastewater and it can be used in sewage treatment systems.