Treatment of sugar factory wastewater with electrochemical method

In this study, the treatment of sugar industry wastewater was investigated using electrocoagulation method, which stands out with many advantages amoung the advanced treatment techniques used recently. This research was carried out with a specially designed aluminum ande iron reactors. The effects of various operating parameters such as current density, pH, support electrolyte concentration (NaCl) and mixing speed on COD removal efficiency were investigated. Electrical energy consumptions were also calculated for the determining suitable treatment conditions. Treatment of the real sugar factory wastewater by electrocoagulation method was performed with the removal efficiency of 94% at 50 mA/cm2 current density, pH: 6, 0,15 M NaCl, 65 rpm mixing rate. The initial COD concentration of 4850 mg/L was reduced to 280 mg/L which is below the direct discharge limits of Turkish Water Pollution Control Regulation for the sugar factory as a result of the this study, it can be said that highly polluted sugar factory wastewater can be treated with a high removal efficiencies which meets the regulation requirements for the direct discharge using electrodes designed differently from the literature.