Evaluation of electrocoagulation in the post-treatment of anaerobic wastewater of slaughterhouse and packing plant

• Published in: Revista ambiente & água Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Silva, Flavia Manente da, Orssatto, Fábio, Eyng, Eduardo, Frare, Laercio Mantovani, Baraldi, Ilton José, Fleck, Leandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taubaté Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas 2021; Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas (IPABHi)
• Subjects: Abattoirs; Anaerobic treatment; Chemical oxygen demand; cod; Color; Color removal; Colour; cost; Cost analysis; Current density; Effluents; Electric currents; Electrocoagulation; Electrodes; Electrolysis; ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL; Environmental impact; Food production; Independent variables; Mathematical models; Operating costs; Organic loading; Power supply; Removal; Resolvers; Robustness (mathematics); Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Turbidity; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; United States > US; turbidity; turbidez; cost; DQO; color; custo; cor; COD
• ISSN: 1980-993X; 1980-993X
• DOI: 10.4136/ambi-agua.2745

The demand for food production brings with it the increase of effluent generation, which represents a great problem for slaughterhouses, since effluents contain higher organic load, requiring adequate treatment to decrease environmental impacts. This study examines an alternative to solve this problem: the application of electrocoagulation in the treatment of anaerobic slaughterhouse and packing plant effluents, as this promising technique is both compact and robust. The removal of color, COD and turbidity was analyzed, and the operational cost was calculated. To optimize the process, the CCRD (central composite rotatable design) methodology was used with two independent variables: electric current density and electrolysis time, obtaining a complete factorial of 2² with 4 axial points and 4 repetitions at the central point. The most expressive removals were: 87%, 80% and 76% for color, COD and turbidity, respectively, the lower operational cost obtained was 0.12 US$.m-3. The statistical analysis allowed obtaining valid mathematical models for color removal and cost and, through the analysis of desirability, it was found that for current density of 8 mA.cm-2 and time of 20 minutes it is possible to maximize color removal (84%) and minimize the cost (0.21 US$.m-3).
Keywords: color, cost, COD, turbidity.