Abstract

The utilization of electrochemical and advanced oxidation technologies for industrial wastewater (IW) treatment has grown in popularity during the last two decades. The effectiveness of several methods for treating IW, including hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), direct-current (DC) and alternating-current (AC)-electrocoagulation (EC), and the combination of H₂O₂ with DC/AC-EC (H₂O₂-DC/AC-EC) processes were all investigated. In comparison to the H₂O₂, DC/AC-EC, and H₂O₂-DC/AC-EC technologies, the results showed that the H₂O₂-AC-EC process produced 100% total colour and 100% chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency with a low power consumption of 4.4 kWhm⁻³. The H₂O₂/AC-EC technology was optimized for treating IW using a response surface methodology approach based on a central composite design using a five-factor level. Utilizing statistical and mathematical techniques, the optimum parameters were determined to minimize consumption of power (1.02 kWhm⁻³) and maximum COD elimination (75%). The experimental parameters comprised the following: H₂O₂ of 600 mg/L, current of 0.65 Amp, pH of 7.6, COD of 1600 mg/L, and treatment time (TT) of 1.26 h. When using a Fe/Fe electrode combination with the wastewater pH of 7, the COD removal efficiency was shown to be enhanced by increasing the TT, current and H₂O₂, and decreasing the COD concentration. The synergistic impact, quantified as the combined efficiency of eliminating % COD utilizing the H₂O₂, AC-EC, and H₂O₂/AC-EC procedures, was found to be 15.75%. Therefore, employing a hybrid H₂O₂-AC-EC approach is considerably more effective in treating IW.