Electrocoagulation for oil-water emulsion treatment

Abstract

An attempt has been made to remove oil from synthetic and actual oily wastes by an electrochemical method using either iron or aluminum reactors. The effects of applied potential i.e direct current, reactor material and polarization, and amount of ferric sulfate using as supporting electrolyte and coagulant, on percent removal and energy consumption have been examined for different initial oil concentrations. The removal efficiency has been found to be as high as 100% for all experiments depending on the duration of treatment for different applied potentials and ferric sulfate concentrations. The polarity of the electrodes played an important role in the treatment of oily wastewater. Actual wastewater samples from two different industrial plants have also been treated in the same reactor and fully removal of oil has been achieved.