Techno-Economic Analysis of Electrocoagulation on Water Reclamation and Bacterial/Viral Indicator Reductions of a High-Strength Organic Wastewater—Anaerobic Digestion Effluent

Sibel Uludag-Demirer, Nathan Olson, Rebecca Ives, Jean Pierre Nshimyimana, Cory A. Rusinek, Joan B. Rose and Wei Liao
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Sibel Uludag-Demirer: Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC), Michigan State University, 4090 College Rd, Lansing, MI 48910, USA
Nathan Olson: Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC), Michigan State University, 4090 College Rd, Lansing, MI 48910, USA
Rebecca Ives: Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Jean Pierre Nshimyimana: Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Cory A. Rusinek: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Nevada, 4505 S Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Joan B. Rose: Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Wei Liao: Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC), Michigan State University, 4090 College Rd, Lansing, MI 48910, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: This study investigated the use of iron and aluminum and their combinations as electrodes to determine the technically sound and economically feasible electrochemical approach for the treatment of anaerobic digestion effluent. The results indicated that the use of iron as anode and cathode is the most suitable solution among different electrode combinations. The reduction of turbidity, total chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus, total coliforms, Escherichia coli , Enterococci, and phages in the reclaimed water were 99%, 91%, 100%, 1.5 log, 1.7 log, 1.0 log, and 2.0 log, respectively. The economic assessment further concluded that the average treatment cost is $3 per 1000 L for a small-scale operation handling 3000 L wastewater/day. This study demonstrated that the electrocoagulation (EC) is a promising technique for the recovery and reclamation of water from anaerobic digestion effluent. Even though its energy consumption is higher and the nitrogen removal is insufficient compared to some conventional wastewater treatment technologies, there are several advantages of the EC treatment, such as short retention time, small footprint, no mixing, and gradual addition of coagulants. These features make EC technology applicable to be used alone or combined with other technologies for a wide range of wastewater treatment applications.

Keywords: biological indicators; COD removal; electrode combination; phosphorus removal; turbidity reduction; wastewater treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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