In situ hypochlorous acid generation for the treatment of textile wastewater

An electrolytic process based on chlorine generation was adopted to treat wastewater containing textile dyes. In situ production of hypochlorous acid was achieved in an undivided electrolytic cell. The cell contained a graphite rod as the anode and a stainless steel sheet as the cathode. The generated chlorine reacts with water leading to the formation of hypochlorous acid and hydrochloric acid. The resultant hypochlorous acid, being an oxidising agent, oxidises the organic components present in the textile wastewater. In this study, the colour in wastewater containing Procion Navy and Procion Red dyes, respectively, was completely removed after 40 min of electrolysis at a constant current density of 39 mA/cm2 (where the initial dye concentrations were 3700 and 3200 mg/l, respectively). In the case of the Procion Yellow and composite dyes, complete colour removal occurred after 50 min of electrolysis (with initial dye concentrations of 3500 mg/l). Even though colour removal occurred during the electrolysis process, it required up to 180 min of electrolysis to reduce the COD values for the four dyes (Procion Navy, Red, Yellow and the composite) from the initial levels of 4520, 4200, 4170 and 4283 mg/l to 70, 45, 39 and 52 mg/l, respectively. This clearly indicates that the process removes both colour and organic components present in textile wastewater.