Influence of electric conductivity in the electro coagulation of waste water from dairy industries
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Date
2012-07-17
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá
Corporación Universitaria Lasallista
Corporación Universitaria Lasallista
Abstract
Liquid effluents from several industrial processes have been treated by the use of electro
coagulation, obtaining promising results in the removal of pollutants. This technique has been
especially studied in the treatment of waste water from dairy industries. Electro coagulation
is a treatment that allows the removal of pollutants from liquid effluents, by applying electric
energy into the liquid and, thus, destabilizing the electric loads of the suspended and dissolved
solids, producing their precipitation to the bottom and making their separation possible. There
are several parameters to control in this process, such as pH, electric conductivity and electric
current density, among others.
Objective. To study the influence of electric conductivity of waste water from dairy industries
in the removal of COD.
Materials and methods. Waste water from dairy industries was treated with electro
coagulation, using an experimental factorial 3x2x3 design that acts according to the variations
of conductivity, current density and treatment time. The response variables measured were the
COD removal percentages.
Results. The percentage of COD removal was favored with the increase of current density
from 32.42 to 43.23 A/m2 at a 15 minutes treatment time. Concerning the conductivity
of the aqueous medium, it was also observed a higher removal rate when this parameter
was increased from 1.5 to 2.5 S/cm, but when it was increased to 3.5 S/cm a reduction in
the removal was observed. This indicates that a conductivity increase above 2.5 S/cm is not
effective for the COD removal efficiency.
Conclusion. The result of this study allows to say that the optimal level for treating waste water
from dairy industries by the use of electro coagulation is achieved at a 15 minutes treatment
time, 2.5 S/cm conductivity and a 43.23 current density. It results in a COD removal of 95.9%.
Description
Keywords
Electrocoagulación, Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá, Industria lechera, Aguas residuales, Contaminación del agua, Tratamiento de aguas residuales, Aguas residuales industriales, Conductividad eléctrica