BTech: Chemical Engineering

Research Project (PCE400S)

Final Presentation 2016

THE TREATMENT OF BIODIESEL WASTEWATER

WITH ELECTROCOAGULATION
Done by:

Anathi Mthantalala

Student number:
Supervisor:
Co-supervisor:

213255766

M Aziz
D Myburgh

Content
Statement of research problem
Background of research problem
Literature review
Research questions
Objectives of the research
Research design and methodology
Results and discussion
Discussion of results
Conclusion and recommendation

Statement of research problem

Local biodiesel manufacturing company discharge of
noncompliant biodiesel wastewater (BDWW) with regard to
COD and FOG. The direct discharge of untreated BDWW

to municipal sewer systems in the City of Cape Town

(CCT) can cause serious environmental problems

Background of research problem

increasing biodiesel production results in large amounts of

wastewater
biodiesel wastewater contains high levels of impurities that
reduces microbial activity and plugging of sewer systems
the water is highly hazardous to the environment and difficult to
degrade
treatment of BDWW is necessary for environmental sustainability
electrocoagulation is one of the major processes to treat BDWW
for environmental sustainability

Background of research problem

According to veljkovi et al. (2014) up to 193000 m3/day

wastewater produced.

Literature review

Typical BDWW treatment process

Physicochemical
process

Flotation or
sedimentati
on

Biological
treatment

Current Integrated BDWW treatment processes

RO

Table 1: Current Integrated BDWW treatment processes COD removal (Daud et.al)

Treatment processes
1.Acidification-electrocoagulation-biomethanization
2.Photo-fenton-aerobic sequential batch reactor
3.Electroflotation-Electro-oxidation
4.Acidification-electrocoagulation-anaerobic codigestion
5.Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)-Coagulation
6. Acidification-electrocoagulation-adsorption

initial COD
(g/l)
Final COD(g/l)
% removal
428
42.8

121.7
6.08
185
30 to 60

Figure 1: BDWW

18.5
10 to 20

90
90
95

90 sample.

BDWW
characteristics:
High levels of
COD, BOD and
FOG
High viscosity
and whitish
colour

Literature review continue

TABLE 2: Typical characteristics of BDWW, produced reported

in literature.
pH

COD (mg/L)

FOG (mg/L)

BOD (mg/L)

15100

11

Author

(Suehara et al. 2005b)

(Chavalparit & Ongwandee

8.9

30980

6020

9.25 - 10.76

312000 - 588800

18000 - 22000

168000 - 300000

(Jaruwat et al. 2010)

8.5 - 10.5

60000 - 150000

7000 - 15000

30000 - 60000

(Rattanapan et al. 2011)

312000 - 588800

18000 - 22000

168000 - 300000

(Ngamlerdpokin et al. 2011)

10.1 - 10.2

542400

21048

224630

(Kumjadpai et al. 2011)

9.25 - 10.26

29595 - 54362

1040 - 1710

1492 - 2286

(Pitakpoolsil & Hunsom 2013)

2009)

Literature review continue

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF ELECTROCOAGULATION TECHNOLOGY:

In situ generation of coagulants

Electrical dissolution of sacrificial anode
PRODUCTION OF COAGULANTS

Formation of coagulants
Destabilization of contaminants through electrostatic forces
Formation of flocks
Reaction:
Mollah et al. (2004) gives the electrochemical reaction at the electrodes as follows:
At the anode:
M(s) M(aq)n+ + ne-

(eq 1.1)

2H2O 4H+(aq) + O2(g) + 4eAt the cathode:

M(aq)n+ + ne- M(s)

(eq 1.3)

2H2O + 2e- H2(g) + 2OH-

(eq 1.2)

Literature review continue

Electrocoagulation process efficiency
Table 3: Electrocoagulation process efficiency from literature.

Previous studies achieved these removal percentages at

various current densities and reaction times.

Research questions

Is it possible to successfully treat biodiesel wastewater to within the

South African and the City of Cape Towns (CCT) industrial wastewater
discharge standards using an acidification-electrocoagulation process
when current density and reaction time are varied?

Figure 2: Electrocoagulation reactor

Objectives of the research

1. Remove COD from biodiesel wastewater using

electrocoagulation process with aluminium electrodes
2. Investigate the effect of different current densities and
reaction time on

removal efficiency

Research design and methodology

ACIDIFICATION AND ELECTROCOAGULATION WILL

BE APPLIED
1. ACIDIFICATION

2. ELECTROCOAGULATION

ACIDIFICATION (PROCESS 1)

1ml of H2SO4 is added to manipulate the pH to a pH of 2

Sample is shaken for 15 minutes to ensure complete acidification.
It stands in the fridge for 24hrs for the water and oil to settle
oil rich phase is removed by titration
VARIABLES

pH

Research design and methodology continue

ELECTROCOAGULATION( PROCESS 2)

NaOH is added to increase the pH of the acidified biodiesel

wastewater
current is manipulated with time to see at which time and current
the process is most effective
DESIGN AND BUILDING OF EC UNIT

4L capacity
4 aluminum anodes
4 graphite cathodes
various current densities
Reaction time

Research design and methodology continue

Experimental design for

BDWW

Table 2: Experimental conditions in the research design for the treatment of

BDWW.
RUN

pH

Current Density(A)

Reaction time(hr)

Research design and methodology

Analytical methods
Table 3: Analysis of feed and product.

Variables to be measured

pH
Conductivity
Total dissolved solids (TDS)
Turbidity.
Salinity
Chemical oxygen demand
(COD)

Results and discussion

%COD Removal on Acidification
60

54.0386

53.0228

50

40

% COD

35.1433

30

20

13.8028
10

Run 1

Run 2

Run 3

Run 4

Results and discussion

% COD Removal by Electrocoagulation
30.0
24.4

25.0
20.0
15.0

% COD

10.0

11.3
9.0

5.0
0.0

Run 1
-5.0
-10.0

Run 2
-4.9

Run 3

Run 4

Results and discussion

% COD Removal on Acidification- Electrocoagulation process
70
58.34

60
51.79
50

% COD40

41.01
34.86

30
20
10
0

Run 1

Run 2

Run 3

Run 4

Results and discussion

Table 4: Mass balance
Mass balance (g)

Run 1

Run 2

Run 3

Run 4

Feed

3832.52

3938.04

3938.2

3949.3

Acidification

3771.8

3901.8

3895

3916.3

Electrocoagulation

3445.69

3643.6

3480

3738.1

Oil removal

Acidification

60.72

36.24

43.2

33

Electrocoagulation

326.11

258.2

415

178.2

Results and discussion

Table 5: waste water analyses
parameters
Conductivity
(mS/cm )
Run 1
2

Feed
Acidification
Electrocoagulation

3.545
13.22
10.37

Run 2
2.99
13.37
8.88

Run 3
4.03
16.77
11.03

Run 4
3.14
13.96
20.3

Salinity (g/L)
Feed
Acidification
Electrocoagulation

2.03
8.21
6.27

1.745
8.3
5.3

2.32
10.55
6.78

1.788
8.67
13.01

TDS (g/L)
Feed
Acidification
Electrocoagulation

2.3
8.28
6.73

1.951
8.71
5.76

2.61
10.93
7.24

2.04
9.1
7.12

Turbidity (NTU)
Feed
Acidification
Electrocoagulation

620.4
33.3
1.04

756.3
122.1
0.59

860.5
142.2
5.91

741.9
79.46
7.12

Results and discussion

Reaction time and current

Energy required

COST

1hr 5.3 mA/cm2

220kWh/m3

R272.8/m3

2hr 5.3 mA/cm2

440kWh/m3

R545.6/m3

1hr 8 mA/cm2

330kWh/m3

R409.2/m3

2hr 8 mA/cm2

660kWh/m3

R818.4/m3

Conclusion and recommendation

From the acidification-electrocoagulation process these were obtained,
run
1
,
run
2,
run
3
and
run
4
removed
41.01%,51.79%,34.86%,58.34% of COD at 1h 5.3 mA/cm2 , 2h 5.3
mA/cm2 , 1h 8 mA/cm2 and 2h 8 mA/cm2
Electrocoagulation technology alone appear not to be effective in
removal efficiency of COD but removes oil effectively. the combination
of acidification and electrocoagulation improves the COD removal.
These results show that current density and reaction time are directly
proportional to the removal of COD.

Acknowledgements
Supervisors: M AZIZ,
Co- Supervisor: Dirk Myburgh
Environmental Research Group
Technical & Academic staff in the Chemical Engineering
Department
CPUT

References
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Reference cont

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Thank you!

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