Textile Wastewater Treatment by Electrocoagulation Process using Aluminum Electrodes

Background and purpose: Textile industries are among the most polluting industries regarding the volume and the complexity of treatment of its effluents discharge. This study investigated the efficiency of electrocoagulation process using aluminum electrodes in basic red 18 dye removal from aqueous solutions. Materials and Methods: This study was performed in a bipolar batch reactor with six aluminum electrodes connected in parallel. Several important parameters, such as initial pH of solution, initial dye concentration, applied voltage; conductivity and reaction time were studied in an attempt to achieve higher removal efficiency. Results: The electrochemical technique showed satisfactory dye removal efficiency and reliable performance in treating of basic red 18. The maximum efficiency of dye removal which was obtained in voltage of 50 V, reaction time of 60 min, initial concentration 50 mg/L, conductivity 3000 μS/cm and pH 7 was equal to 97.7%. Dye removal efficiency was increased accordance to increase of applied voltage and in contrast electrode and energy consumption was increased simultaneously. Conclusion: As a conclusion, the method was found to be highly efficient and relatively fast compared to conventional existing techniques for dye removal from aqueous solutions.