Phosphorous removal from anaerobically digested municipal sludge centrate by an electrocoagulation reactor using metal (Al, Fe and Al-Fe) scrap anodes

Abstract Phosphates are a major cause of eutrophication and growth of algal blooms in surface waters. The current study investigated phosphorus removal from sludge centrate effluent (SCE) of a municipal wastewater plant by packed-bed electrocoagulation (EC) reactor. Distinctively, iron (Fe), aluminum (Al) and Al-Fe hybrid scrap anodes were used. The influence of initial pHi, applied current and packed anode bed density were evaluated. Phosphorous removal efficiency of 99.99 % was obtained at applied current of 0.20A with anode bed densities of 0.18 kg Al/m3 (pHi 5.0) and 0.48 kg Fe/m3(pHi 7.0). Optimum operating costs entailing sludge disposal, chemical, energy and electrode consumption were calculated as 0.379 US $/m3 (6.04 $/kg PO4-P) for Fe scrap, 0.494 US $/m3 (9.46 $/kg PO4-P) for Al scrap and 0.501 US $/m3 (9.59 $/kg PO4-P) for Al-Fe hybrid scraps. Phosphorus removal per electrochemically generated metal was 191.22 mg P/g Al, 104.88 mg P/g Fe, and 61.08 mg P/g (Al + Fe). The molar metal to phosphorus ratio at optimum conditions were calculated as 5.41, 3.97 and 7.65 mol/mole for Al, Fe and Al-Fe, respectively. The key mechanisms for phosphorus removal were metal-phosphorus precipitation and adsorption. Herein, metal scrap anodes have been proved effective for phosphorous removal from SCE.