Pilot-Scale Iron Electrocoagulation for Natural Organic Matter Removal / Avskiljning av naturligt organiskt material med järnelektrokoagulering i pilotskala
A scaled-up, continuous iron electrocoagulation reactor was built for drinking water treatment research. The impact of current density (i), metal loading (ML) and inter-electrode gap (d) on the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) was studied at 1.35 L/min. Removal performance was evaluated using UV-abs-254 and DOC analysis. Larger d provided the greatest reductions in DOC. When considering UV-abs-254 analysis, the largest and smallest d, 10 and 1 mm respectively, provided the greatest reductions. The effects of i on DOC and UVabs- 254 yielded the least clear results; however, it could be surmised that lower i provided greatest reductions of both DOC and UV-abs-254. The parameters providing the most substantial reduction on both DOC and UV-abs-254 reductions was ML. At the highest ML, both reductions in DOC and UV-abs-254 were observed, however continued work must be dedicated to further reducing the latter. Although DOC reductions were observed at ML < 51.1 mg/L, increased absorbance was observed through all factors and treatments. These increased absorbance results are due to dissolved iron species introduced during the EC process and present during UV-spectrophotometric analysis.