Development of electrolytic treatment of oily wastewater

Abstract

Experimental data on a new electrolytic treatment for oily wastewater indicate that the process can render the wastewater suitable for direct discharge to municipal sewers.

Review of pollutants removed by electrocoagulation and electrocoagulation/flotation processes

“…Their results showed that wastewater treated with aluminium hydroxide formed by dissolution of aluminium anodes when hydrogen evolved at the cathode floats, the hydroxide floc adsorbed the oil. An electrolytic process to treat oily wastewater was considered by Weintraub et al (1983). A pilot plant with iron electrodes was designed to treat between 300 and 7000 mg L À1 of emulsified oil at flow rate of 4 L min À1 .…”

Characteristics and treatability of oil-bearing wastes from aluminum alloy machining operations

“…In the early 1980s, researchers at the Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, MI, tested a newly designed electrochemical reactor in a manufacturing plant that represented highly varied machining operations [12]. It was found that when direct current is applied to water through a pair of electrodes, water molecules are broken down into hydrogen and oxygen gases.…”

Electrochemical coagulation for oily water demulsification

“…In the early 1980s, a team of researchers in Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, MI, was able to operate a newly designed electrochemical reactor at voltages of about 15 V and a current density of less than 10 mA/cm 2 . Through years of research, a pilot-scale system was constructed and tested in a manufacturing plant that represented highly varied machining operations [5]. The system was able to reduce the turbidity of the incoming oily wastewater from 2500 NTU (Nephelometer Turbidity Unit) to less than 5 NTU with a power consumption of about 6 kW h/1000 gal.…”