ELECTROCOAGULATION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VOLATILE ODORS COMPOUNDS

Abstract

The emission of odors in wastewater treatment plants represents a significant impact. Increased awareness of population about their rights and increased numbers of treatment plants in operation, associated with urban pressures on vacant areas that force the construction of residences and / or entertainment complexes increasingly coming from sewage treatment plants, force companies responsible for the sewage to consider this problem, seeking solutions consistently to avoid conflicts with communities. The use of electrochemical processes for wastewater treatment is becoming increasingly important because of its versatility, small size and capability of automation. In this sense, are of special interest electrocoagulation as a method of treatment of odorous compounds present in wastewater. During this investigation we have studied the removal of odorous volatile compounds (carbon disulfide, toluene and dichloromethane) by electrocoagulation process. We have investigated the effect of reactor design (configuration 1 power, 2 powers consecutives and configuration of 2 powers separated), the nature of the electrodes (aluminum), and electric current (0.5 A, 2 A, 4 A 6 A, 8 A and
9.5 A). Satisfactory yields were observed for carbon disulfide and determined optimal performance by aluminum electrodes 2.5 cm apart., Using the one source, and applying extremely low electric current (0.5 amps). Referring to toluene was a slight performance, while there was no meaningful action on the dichloromethane. The configuration of a source, as well as having presented the best yields for carbon disulfide and toluene, require lower power and lower retention time.

Key Words: volatile compounds, electrocoagulation, odor, wastewater treatment plants.