Electrocoagulation requires only simple equipment for industrial wastewater treatment. Adequately trained operators are able to cope with most of the problems encountered in use. Electrocoagulation of industrial wastewater treatment provides clean, colorless, odorless, palatable drinking water.
The mud formed by electrocoagulation is easily disposed of and readily dehydrated compared to conventional alumina or iron oxide slurries. Because the main metal oxide or hydroxide has no residual charge.
Coagulation products produced by electrocoagulation are generally larger than chemical flocculation products and contain less bound water. Besides, they are similar to those in acid resistance and stability and can be quickly removed by filtration. In contrast to chemical treatment, especially with the chemical treatment of hydroxide, the emission in the coagulation process contains less TDS. If the water needs to be reused, a very low level of TDS will reduce the cost of water quality restoration.
The electrocoagulation process removes the smallest colloidal particles because the electric field neutralizes any remaining charge, making flocculation easy to occur. The electrocoagulation process avoids the abuse of chemical agents in general, thus eliminating the steps to neutralize the additional chemicals and the two possible contamination by the addition of high concentrations of chemical agents. The bubbles produced by electrolysis usually carry contaminants to the upper layer of the solution, which are easily concentrated, collected, and removed using mechanical fishing equipment.
The electrolysis process in the coagulation unit is controlled by electricity without mechanical components, so the maintenance cost is extremely low. Adding sodium hypochlorite into the water helps reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). If the waste water contains high levels of organic compounds or dissolved ammonium (NH4+), no sodium hypochlorite (THMs) or other chlorinated organic matter should be added to prevent the production of three halogenated hydrocarbons. Sodium hypochlorite can be produced by an electric chlorinating apparatus.
Due to the excellent coagulation removal of suspended particles, and simple Electrocoagulation Operation, a test of the U.S. Naval Research Institute showed that electrocoagulation treatment of industrial wastewater is the most ideal usage scenarios as "pretreatment equipment UF-RO" and "microfiltration reverse osmosis" multilayer film processing system. Electrocoagulation technology for industrial wastewater treatment provides protection for low-pressure membranes. Electrocoagulation also results in significant removal of fouling (e.g. silica, alkaline earth hydroxides, and transition metal groups) which are not readily available by single chemical agents.
