Photovoltaic electrocoagulation process for remediation of chromium plating wastewaters

AbstractThe proposed photovoltaic electrocoagulation (PV-EC) process combines the autonomous and environmentally friendly photovoltaic (PV) solar energy with the capability of iron electrocoagulation (EC) to effectively reduce both trivalent and hexavalent chromium ions from electroplating effluents. The PV array can be connected directly to the EC reactor without batteries increasing, in this way, the system sustainability and eliminating the environmental threat of improper battery disposal. The PV-EC system is made versatile according to the instantaneous solar irradiation by adjusting the wastewater flow rate to the current intensity supplied by the PV array. The experiments were conducted in Kavala Institute of Technology (latitude 40° 55′, longitude 24° 22′, and altitude 138 m above the sea level). All operating parameters affecting the efficiency of the proposed process, such as wastewater conductivity, pH, flow rate, current density, electroprocessing time, and solar irradiance, were studied and o...