Synergistic analysis for co-treatment of poultry wastewater and sewage in electro-chemical system: Operational parameters, kinetics and energy estimation

This research deals with the investigation of poultry wastewater (PW) treatment by electrocoagulation (EC) using iron (Fe) and stainless-steel (SS) electrodes for COD, NO3- and TSS removal. Meanwhile, effect of operational parameters i.e. treatment time (0-180 min), voltage (5-30 V), pH (3-11), number of electrodes (2-6), electrode combination (Fe -SS -Fe -SS and SS -Fe -SS -Fe) and electrode spacing (1-3 cm) on removal of COD, NO3- and TSS were investigated. Subsequently, first-order and second-order kinetic models were adopted for deter-mining rate constants. Furthermore, the efficacy of potential application of EC technique for cotreatment of PW and sewage (SW) at different volumetric ratios PW + SW (mL + mL) viz. 1000 + 0, 800 + 200, 600 + 400, 400 + 600 and 0 + 1000 was examined. From results, it was observed that optimum operating conditions were found to be 120 min, 25 V voltage, 4 electrodes and 1 cm electrode distance at neutral pH. At optimized conditions, Fe electrodes were found to be more efficient in COD (99%), NO3- (85%) and TSS (89%) removal of comparison to SS electrodes (COD (84%), NO3- (71%) and TSS (72%)). Furthermore, synergistic index and electrical energy order elucidated the feasible application of EC treatment using Fe electrode for co-treatment of PW + SW efficiently.