Enhancing textile wastewater treatment for subsequent biological processes by integrating electrooxidation and electrocoagulation

ABSTRACT The presence of refractory contaminants in textile wastewater is one of the major concerns while handling them with the biological processes at common effluent treatment. Electro-oxidation (EO) as a standalone process is an insufficient treatment method for the abolition of inorganic contaminants (carbon and non-carbon). By incorporating electrocoagulation (EC) as an associated treatment method after EO, removal of such contaminants becomes easy, which not only makes the treated wastewater fit for biological remediation but also reduces the load on biological units. The removal of non-carbonic impurities was assessed in terms of improvement in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) post EC. L25 orthogonal array of experiments was obtained using the Taguchi method. From the S/N ratio plot, the optimal process combination was obtained as, EO with current density = 25 mA/cm2, electrolysis time = 50 min followed by EC with current density = 18 mA/cm2, speed of rotation = 50 rpm and electrolysis time = 40 min. The enhancement in COD and total organic carbon removal efficiencies after EC were 65.11 and 63.57%, respectively, over EO. The biodegradability index also improved from an initial value of 0.098–0.737 post-hybrid treatment. Inorganic carbon reduced from a value of 36.37 mg/L after EO to 0.1 mg/L post EC.