TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance assessment of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and application of electrocoagulation process to improve their operation
AU - Tertouche, Sid Ahmed
AU - Bellebia, Sohbi
AU - Bengharez, Zohra
AU - Zian, Zohra
AU - Jellali, Salah
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Directorate General of Scientific Research and Technological Development (DGRSDT) and the Thematic Agency of Research in Biotechnology and Agri-Food Sciences (ATRBSA), Algeria, for their research support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, HARD Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The present study aimed to assess the efficiency of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) operating with different biological processes and to investigate the electrocoagulation process as alternative to improve their operation. Results revealed the consistent efficiency of urban WWTP that uses activated sludge process, the station operated with removal efficiencies higher than 91% for biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) and produced high quality effluent whereas the efficiency of WWTP of an industrial complex using trickling filter process was in the monitored period very small and did not meet the minimum acceptable treatment efficiency of discharged wastewater. The treatment assays with electrocoagulation process using aluminium electrodes exhibited high COD removal particularly for plant of industrial site, the optimal operating conditions for the maximum COD removal are found to be the initial pH of 3, current density of 29.79 mA/cm2, electrolysis time of 5 min and charge loading of 26.11 F/m3. Under these conditions, the removal efficiency of COD is found to be 79%. Consequently, electrocoagulation process can be recommended to improve the performance of WWTPs. Nonetheless, the implementation of EC into industrial or municipal systems should be investigated more.
AB - The present study aimed to assess the efficiency of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) operating with different biological processes and to investigate the electrocoagulation process as alternative to improve their operation. Results revealed the consistent efficiency of urban WWTP that uses activated sludge process, the station operated with removal efficiencies higher than 91% for biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) and produced high quality effluent whereas the efficiency of WWTP of an industrial complex using trickling filter process was in the monitored period very small and did not meet the minimum acceptable treatment efficiency of discharged wastewater. The treatment assays with electrocoagulation process using aluminium electrodes exhibited high COD removal particularly for plant of industrial site, the optimal operating conditions for the maximum COD removal are found to be the initial pH of 3, current density of 29.79 mA/cm2, electrolysis time of 5 min and charge loading of 26.11 F/m3. Under these conditions, the removal efficiency of COD is found to be 79%. Consequently, electrocoagulation process can be recommended to improve the performance of WWTPs. Nonetheless, the implementation of EC into industrial or municipal systems should be investigated more.
KW - Biological process
KW - Efficiency
KW - Electrocoagulation
KW - Optimization
KW - Wastewater treatment plant
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U2 - 10.15244/pjoes/134084
DO - 10.15244/pjoes/134084
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85116326987
SN - 1230-1485
VL - 30
SP - 5273
EP - 5284
JO - Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
JF - Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
IS - 6
ER -