Electrochemical treatment of wastewater containing polyaromatic organic pollutants

Disposal of industrial wastewater containing naphthalene- and anthraquinone -sulpho nic acids by electrochemical methods has been studied in this paper . It was found that only a small fraction of the organics was oxidised by d irect electrolyses, while complete mineralisation of the organics was obtai ned with the indirect process, electrogenerating hypochlorite from chloride oxidation. The effects of operating factors, such as anode materials and c hloride concentration, were also investigated. The experimental data sugges ted that the Ti/Pt anodes had the highest electrocatalytic activity and inc reasing the chloride concentration in the electrolyte resulted in an increa sing of COD and colour removol. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.