Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology

Rhodes, Greece, 8 - 10 September 2011

APPLICATION OF ELECTROCOAGULATION FOR DYE REMOVAL

FROM TEXTILE INDUSTRIES EFFLUENT
ARASH DALVAND a, MITRA GHOLAMI a*, AHMAD JONEIDI a and NIYAZ
MOHAMMAD MAHMOODI b
a

Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Tehran University of Medical

Sciences, P.O.Box:6446- 14155,Tehran, Iran
b
Department of Environmental Research, Institute for Color Science and Technology,
P.O. Box: 16765-654 Tehran, Iran
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 88777674; Fax: +98 21 88779487
E-mail address: gholamim@tums.ac.ir

EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Reactive Red 198 Dye removal efficiency by electrocoagulation treatment process using
Iron electrodes was studied. The effects of parameters such as voltage, time of reaction,
electrode connection mode, initial dye concentration, electrolyte concentration and inter
electrode distance on dye removal efficiency were investigated.The results showed when
voltage increased from 5 to 40 V during 30 min, dye removal percentage increased from
28.49 to 99.04 %. Also, with increasing time of reaction from 5 to 60 min at constant
voltage, dye removal gradually increased. At all inter electrode distances, electrical
energy consumption at 40 V was approximately 4 times higher than that of 20 V. Thus 20
V is preferred to 40 V due to high dye removal efficiency and very lower electrical energy
consumption.
The effect of distance between anode and cathode on dye removal at optimum voltage
(20 V) was experimented at 1, 2 and 3 cm. When inter electrode distance increases from
1 to 3 cm, dye removal efficiency decrease from 87.39 to 33.02% after 30 min electrolysis
at 20V, respectively.
To determine influence of initial dye concentration on dye and COD removals efficiencies
during electrocoagulation, five dye solutions with different initial dye concentrations (50,
75, 100, 200 and 300 mg/L) were treated at optimum condition (20 V, inter electrode
distance of 1 cm and 30 min reaction time). Results showed that when dye concentration
increased from 50 to 300 mg/L, dye and COD removals efficiencies reached 98.59 to
69.45 % and 84.1 to 56.2 %, respectively. For determining effect of electrolyte
concentration on dye removal, Sodium chloride was used as an electrolyte at three
different concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mM) at optimum operational condition. With
increasing electrolyte concentration from 0 to 1 mM, after 5 min contact time, dye removal
efficiency increases from 55.3 to 96.5 %.
To evaluate the presence of aromatic compounds due to cleavage of dye molecules in
the solution, absorbance at 254 nm were measured (Mahmoodi and Arami, 2009). It can be
concluded that the removal of Reactive Red198 has not been lead to cleavage of azo
linkage to produce other by products. High COD removal of 84.1 % confirms that
cleavage azo group has small role in dye removal.
Keywords: Electrocoagulation; Dye removal; Iron electrode.

181B-

1. INTRODUCTION
Textile industries consume large amounts of high quality water and produces high
quantities colored wastewater (Mahmoodi and Arami, 2008). Textile industries use more
than 10000 dyes and pigments for dyeing natural and synthetic fibers (Essadki, 2008)
Presence of dyes in water resources and aqueous environments, beside aesthetic aspect
(Arslan-Alaton et al., 2008; Christie, 2007) affect the transparency and gas solution in
water (Barrera-Diaz, 2003) and some of these dyes are toxic, mutagenic and
carcinogenic to human and aquatic life (Essadki, 2008; Yildiz, 2008; Zaroual, 2006).
Usually, dyes contain aromatic rings in chemical structures (Muthukumar, 2007) and
therefore, have high stability against light, oxidants and biological degradation
(Robinson). Thus reduction of dye and COD from textile wastewaters are difficult
(Sanroman et al., 2004). Reactive dyes are widely used to color cellulose fibers such as
cotton (Song et al., 2007). Reactive dyes are not absorbed onto biomass to any great
degree and generally pass through conventional biological wastewater systems. In
addition, dyes molecules are highly structured molecules that are potentially toxic to
organisms (Zidane et al., 2008). Therefore, it is difficult to degrade them biologically.
There are various kinds of physical, biological and chemical processes to remove dyes
from colored wastewater (Can et al., 2006). Most of the treatment methods have
disadvantages. Regeneration of adsorbents is difficult (Kobya et al, 2007). Chemical
coagulation needs to additional chemicals to wastewater and produces large amounts of
sludge, which needs to be disposed (Bayramoglu et al., 2007). The costs of advanced
oxidation processes such as UV/H2O2, ozonation and photo catalysis (UV/TiO2) is high
and are not economically feasible (Kim et al., 2002).
Electrochemical treatment method is an eco-friendly and cost-effective method (Yalcn et
al., 2007). Among electrochemical treatments, electro-oxidation and electrocoagulation
are more effective than the others to remove dye from textile wastewaters (Kobya et al,
2007). Electrocoagulation treatment has advantages such as smaller space in compare
to biological treatments due to shorter reaction time (Essadki, 2008; Kim et al., 2002), low
sludge production in compare to chemical coagulation (Zidane et al., 2008), low cost of
equipment and operation and easy operation (Aleboyeh et al., 2008).
In this research, efficiency of electrocoagulation treatment using Iron electrodes to
remove Reactive Red198 from aqueous solution has been investigated. The effects of
parameters such as voltage variation, time of reaction, inter electrode distance, initial dye
concentration; electrolyte concentration and electrode connection mode on dye removal
percentage have been evaluated. In addition, optimum operation condition in view of
electrical energy consumption and electrode consumption were studied.
2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
Reactive Red 198 (RR198) was purchased from Hoechst Company (Germany). The
properties of RR198 are shown in Table 1. HCl, NaCl, and other reagents for were
obtained from Merck Company.
Dye concentration was determined by measuring of dye absorbance at maximum
wavelength using a UV-visible spectrophotometer (CECIL7001, England). The chemical
oxygen demand (COD) was measured (5220b)(. pH was measured by pH meter (HACH
HQ, USA). A digital multimeter (DEC-RE330Fc, Taiwan) was used to measure the
voltage and current. For conducting of experiments, a rectangular tank with dimensions of
14 cm (length) 12 cm (width) 14 cm (height) was made. Working volume of reactor
was 2 L. Four electrodes (2 anodes and 2 cathodes) were made from aluminum plates.

182B-

Dimensions of each electrode were 11.2 cm (length) 10.8 cm (width) 0.2 cm (thick).
Total active area of electrodes was 484 cm2.

Dye

Table 1. Properties of Reactive Red198

Reactive Red 198

Chemical structure

Chemical formula
C27H18ClN7Na4O15S5
Molecular
weight
967.5
(g/mol)
max (nm)
518
Electrodes were connected to a DC power supply (micro-Iran, 0-40 V, and 0-5 A) in
monopolar or bipolar mode. Then, 2 L synthetic wastewater containing specific amount of
dye was fed into the reactor (pH: 5.5 and conductivity 45 s/cm). For each run, Voltage
was held constant at 5, 20 or 40 V and current variation was measured continuously
during the process. The reactor contents were mixed continuously by a magnetic stirrer.
During the process, samples were withdrawn from the reactor at different contact times of
5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 min and settled for a time of 30 min, centrifuged (4000 rpm,
5min) and analyzed. All experiments were carried out in a batch mode. After each run,
electrodes were dipped in HCl (1.3 M) for 30 min, rubbed with a plastic brush and rinsed
with water and dried. Experiments were performed at 20 C.
The percentage of dye removal, COD removal and electrical energy consumption were
determined according to equations of 1, 2 and 3, respectively:
= [(C0-C)/C0]100

(1), = [(COD0-COD)/COD0]100 (2),E = (UIt)/V

(3)

where is dye and COD removals (%). C0 and C are dye concentration before reaction
after reaction (mg/L), respectively. COD0 and COD are chemical oxygen demand before
and after reaction (mg/L), respectively. E, U, I, t and V are electrical energy consumption
(KWh/m3), voltage (V), current (A), time of reaction (h) and the volume of solution (L),
respectively.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. The effect of time and voltage variations on the dye removal
The effect of time and voltage on the dye removal efficiency is given in Fig. 1. As shown
in this figure, when voltage increased from 5 to 40 V during 30 min, dye removal
percentage increased from 28.49 to 99.04 %. Also, with increasing time of reaction from 5
to 60 min at constant voltage, dye removal gradually increased.Voltage and time of
reaction are two major operation parameters that determine the coagulant dosage rate
during electrocoagulation.
Three main processes which occurred during electrocoagulation are includes:
1. Electrolytic reactions at surface of electrodes
2. Formation of coagulants in aqueous phase

183B-

3. Adsorption of soluble or colloidal pollutants onto coagulants and removal of them using
sedimentation or flotation of flocs when H2 bubbles were produced at the cathode
(Aleboyeh et al., 2008).
Two main mechanisms of reactions that occur at cathode and anode during
electrocoagulation with aluminum electrodes cause to production of coagulants (Eq 4-6)
(Aleboyeh et al., 2008; Mollah et al., 2004). Anodic reaction is:

Fe(s) Fe2+(aq) +2e

(4)

Cathodic reaction is:

2H2O(l) +2e 2OH(aq) +H2(g)

(5)

Fe(s) +2H2O(l) Fe(OH)2(s) +H2(g)

(6)

Dye removal
efficiency (%)

Overall reaction is:

100
80
60
40
20
0

5V
20V
40V
0

15

30

45

60

75

Time (min)
Figure1. Effect of voltage on dye removal during electrocoagulation(interelectrode
distance:1 cm, pH:5.5 and dye: 50 mg/L)
Hydrogen gas (H2) and hydroxyl ions are produced at cathode due to reduction of water
and main product of anodic reaction is Iron ion. The released ions neutralize the particle
charges and thereby initiate coagulation. Also hydrogen ions produced at cathode during
reduction of water react with Iron ions and produce monomeric and polymeric species of
Iron hydroxides. These products are able to remove dye from wastewater either
bycomplexation or by electrostatic attraction, that followed by coagulation (Can et al.,
2006; Mollah et al., 2004).
3.2. Effect of inter electrode distance on dye removal
The effect of distance between anode and cathode on dye removal at constant voltage
(20 V) was experimented at 1, 2 and 3 cm. As shown in Fig. 2, when inter electrode
distance increases from 1 to 3 cm, dye removal efficiency decrease from 87.39 to 33.02
% after 30 min electrolysis at 20 V, respectively. Results showed that with an increasing
of gap between electrodes, electrical energy consumption decreased. In the other hand,
with increasing of inter electrode distance, less interaction of the dye with the hydroxyl
polymers is expected, thus local concentration and electrostatic attraction would
decrease and dye removal efficiency reduces [15].
3.3. Effect of voltage variations on final pH of effluent during electrocoagulation
The pH is one of the important parameters that affect the electrocoagulation process.
Former studies demonstrate that highest treatment efficiencies are obtained at pH 5-6
during electrocoagulation using Iron electrodes. Initial pH of dye solution used in this
research was 5.5. Thus this parameter was not assessed in this study and only effects of
voltage and time on final pH of effluent during process were evaluated.

184B-

Dye removal
Efficiency (%)

100
80
60
40
20
0

1cm
2cm

20

40

60

80

Time (min)

Figure 2. Effect of interelectrode distance on dye removal (20 V, pH:5.5 and dye: 50 mg/L)

3.4. Effect of initial dye concentration on dye and COD removal

To determine influence of initial dye concentration on dye and COD removals efficiencies
during electrocoagulation, five dye solutions with different initial dye concentrations (50,
75, 100, 200 and 300 mg/L) were treated at optimum condition. Results showed that
when dye concentration increased from 50 to 300 mg/L, dye and COD removals
efficiencies reached 98.59 to 69.45 % and 84.1 to 56.2 %, respectively (Fig. 3). One of
the most important pathways of dye removal by electrocoagulation is adsorption of dye
molecules on metallic hydroxide flocs. According to Faradays low, a constant amount of
Fe3+ released to the solution at same current, voltage and time for all dye concentration.
Thus same amount flocs would be produced in the solution. The adsorption capacity of
flocs is limited and specific amount of flocs able to adsorb specific amount of dye
molecules [15]. So, with increasing of dye concentration, amount of produced flocs
insufficient to adsorb all dye molecules, therefore dye and COD removal decreases.
100

Rem
oval(%
)

80
60

Dye removal
COD removal

40
20
0
50

75

100
200
Dye (mg/L)

300

Figure 3. Effect of initial dye concentration on dye and COD removals (interelectrode distance:1
cm, 20 V and time: 30min)

3.5. Effect of electrolyte concentration on dye removal

Sodium chloride was used as an electrolyte at three different concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5
and 1 mM). Fig. 4, showed with increasing of electrolyte concentration from 0 to 1 mM,
after 5 min contact time, dye removal efficiency increased from 55.3 to 96.5 %. Also with
increasing of electrolyte concentration from 0 to 1 mM, the required time to reach to 98.5
% dye removal percentage, decreases from 30 min to 10 min. It can be attributed that at
a constant voltage with increasing of electrolyte concentration, conductivity of dye
solution increases (conductivity of solutions rise from 44 to 168 s/cm when NaCl
concentration increased from 0 to 1 mM) and resistance decreases, so the passed
current increases and the produced amount of metallic hydroxide and dye removal
increases. In addition, the presence of NaCl in solution causes to production of

185B-

hypochlorite ion at anode and leads to increase dye removal by oxidation of dye
molecules.
3.6. The effect of current efficiency
Current efficiency is an important parameter that affects the lifetime of the electrodes
during electrocoagulation process [11]. The ratio of the experimental Fe dosage (Mexp)
to the theoretical value (Mtheo) is defined as the current efficiency (). This parameter is
calculated using the following equation:
= (Mexp/Mtheo) 100
(8)
The amount of theoretical Iron dissolution can be calculated according to Faradays law
using the following equation:
Fe+3 theoretical= (MIt)/ZF
(9)
where M, I, t, Z and F are molecular mass of Iron (26.98 g/mol), the electrical current (A),
time of reaction (s), the number of electron moles (=3) and Faradays constant (=96487
c/mol), respectively

Dyerem
oval(%
)

100
80

NaCl (mM)
0

60

0.25
0.5
1

40
20
0
0

10

15
20
time (min)

25

30

35

Figure 4 . Effect of electrolyte concentration on dye removal (inter electrode distance:1

cm, 20 V, pH:5.5, dye: 50 mg/L)
The experimental Fe dosage was determined by weighting of electrodes before and after
each run and weight loss of Iron was calculated. The results showed that the actual
consumption of the electrodes was 0.104 g after 30 min of process at average current of
0.26 A. Theoretical consumption was 0.043 g. The mass over consumption of Iron
electrodes may be due to the chemical hydrolysis of the cathode. In addition, it can be
attributed that during the electrocoagulation, the cathode is chemically attacked by OHions generated during H2 evolution at high pH (Khemis et al., 2005).
3.7. Kinetic studies
Kinetics studies of treatment process has important role in determining the hydraulic
retention time in any reactor system to achieve desired removal (]. So, Rate constant is
very significant in the design of wastewater treatment units. Results showed the removal
of dye exhibited first order kinetic with good correlation coefficients (> 0.95).
Results showed that the rate constant increases with increasing voltage and electrolyte
concentration and decreases with increasing dye concentration. Rate constant of dye
removal at monopolar parallel connection was higher than other connection modes.
3.8. Dye removal mechanism
Reactive Red198 have different groups in its structure. These groups have three different
absorbance peaks at 288, 373 and 518 nm. These peaks could be attributed to benzene,

186B-

naphthalene rings and azo linkage (Mahmoodi and Arami, 2009), Dye removal during
electrochemical processes may be due to destruction of dye molecules to smaller organic
compounds depends on type of electrode material used. Thus, to evaluate the dye
removal mechanism by the electrocoagulation, the absorbance of raw and treated
wastewater at three absorption wavelengths of 288,373 and 518 nm were measured. In
addition, to determine the presence of aromatic compounds due to cleavage of dye
molecules in the solution, absorbance at 254 nm were measured (Mahmoodi and Arami,
2009). Fig. 5, showed that all of absorbance peaks decrease during the
electrocoagulation treatment and are almost completely disappeared after about 30 min.
These absorbance peaks reduction indicated that main mechanism for dye removal was
adsorption of dye molecules on flocs and most of dye molecules have not been broken
during process. Also it can be concluded that the removal of Reactive Red198 has not
been lead to cleavage of azo linkage to produce other by products. High COD removal of
84.1 % confirms that cleavage azo group has small role in dye removal. Smaller COD
removal compare to dye removal may indicate the low decomposition of dye molecules to
small organic substance via electro-oxidation.
1.5

Absorbance

518nm

1.2

254nm
373nm

0.9

288nm

0.6
0.3
0
0

15

30

45

60

75

time(min)

90

105

Figure 5. Absorbance reduction during electrocoagulation of RR198 (interelectrode distance: 1 cm,

20 V and dye: 50 mg/L)

4. Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn based on the results:
-Electrocoagulation is a fast and very effective and clean process to remove reactive
dyes from wastewater.
-The treating of colored wastewater using aluminum electrodes was affected by the
voltage, time of reaction, inter electrode distance, electrode connection mode, initial
electrolyte and dye concentration.
-Dye removal followed first order kinetics.
-Monopolar parallel connection mode was the most efficient connection for dye removal
from wastewater.
References
Mahmoodi N.M.and Arami M. (2009), Numerical finite volume modeling of dye decolorization using
immobilized titania nanophotocatalysis. Chem. Eng. J.,146, 189-193.
Mahmoodi N.M.and Arami M. (2008), Modeling and sensitivity analysis of dyes adsorption onto
natural adsorbent from colored textile wastewater. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 109, 4043-4048.
Essadki A.H., Bennajah M., Gourich B., Vial C., Azzi M., Delmas H. (2008), Electrocoagulation
/Electroflotation in an external-loop airlift reactorApplication to the decolorization of textile dye
wastewater: A case study, Chem. Eng. Process, 47, 1211-1223.

187B-

Arslan-Alaton I., Kabdas I. Hanbaba D., Kuybu E. (2008), Electrocoagulation of a real reactive
dyebath effluent using aluminum and stainless steel electrodes, J. Hazard. Mater., 150, 166173.
Christie R.M. (2007), Environmental aspects of textile dyeing, 1st Ed., woodHeah Publication
Limited., England, pp. 194.
Barrera-Diaz C., Urena-Nunez F., Campos E., Palomar-Pardave M., Romero-Romo M.(2003), A
combined electrochemical-irradiation treatment of highly colored and polluted industrial
wastewater. Radiation Phys. Chem., 67, 657663.
Yildiz Y.S.( 2008), Optimization of Bomaplex Red CR-L dye removal from aqueous solution by
electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes, J. Hazard. Mater., 158, 194-200.
Zaroual Z., Azzi M., Saib N., Chainet N. (2006), Contribution to the study of electrocoagulation
mechanism in basic textile effluent, J. Hazard. Mater., 131, 7378.
Muthukumar M., Karuppiah M.T., Raju G.B. (2007), Electrochemical removal of CI Acid orange 10
from aqueous solutions. Sep. Purif. Technol., 55, 198205.
Robinson T., McMullan G., Marchant R., Nigam P. (2001), Remediation of dyes in textile effluent:
a critical review on current treatment technologies with a proposed alternative. Bioresource
Technol., 77, 247-255.
Sanroman M.A., Pazos M., Ricart M.T., Cameselle C. (2004), Electrochemical decolourisation of
structurally different dyes. Chemosphere., 57, 233239.
Song S., He Z., Qiu J., Chen X.L. (2007), Ozone assisted electrocoagulation for decolorization of
C.I. Reactive Black 5 in aqueous solution: An investigation of the effect of operational parameters.
Sep. Purif. Technol., 55, 238245.
Zidane F., Drogui P., Lekhlif B., Bensaid J., (2008), Decolourization of dye-containing effluent
using mineral coagulants produced by electrocoagulation, J. Hazard. Mater., 155, 153-163.
Can O.T., Kobya M., Demirbas E., Bayramoglu M. (2006), Treatment of the textile wastewater by
combined electrocoagulation. Chemosphere., 62, 181187.
Kobya M., Bayramoglu M., Eyvaz M.( 2007), Techno-economical evaluation of electrocoagulation
for the textile wastewater using different electrode connections, J. Hazard. Mater., 148, 311318.
Bayramoglu M., Eyvaz M., Kobya M. (2007), Treatment of the textile wastewater by
electrocoagulation Economical evaluation, Chem. Eng. J., 128, 155161.
Kim T.H., Park C., Shin E.B., Kim S. (2002), Decolorization of disperse and reactive dyes by
continuous electrocoagulation process. Desalination, 150, 165-175.
Yalcn S., Evki Y., Ali S., Koparal S. Ahset I., Bulent K. (2007), Electrocoagulation of synthetically
prepared waters containing high concentration of NOM using iron cast electrodes, J. Hazard.
Mater., 139, 373380.
APHA, AWWA, WPCF, Standards Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewaters, 20th
edition, American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water
Pollution Control Federation,Washington, DC, 1998.

APHA, AWWA, WEF. (2005), Standard Methods for the Examination of Waters and
Wastewaters, 21th ed., American Public Health Association (APHA), Washington, DC.
Aleboyeh A., Daneshvar N., Kasiri M.B. ( 2008), Optimization of C.I. Acid Red 14 azo dye removal
by electrocoagulation batch process with response surface methodology, Chem. Eng. Process,
47, 827-832.
Khemis M., Tanguy G., Leclerc J.P., Valentin G., Lapicque F. (2005), Electrocoagulation for the
treatment of oil suspensions relation between the rates of electrode reaction and efficiency of
waste removal, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 83, 5057.
Prasanna D.B., Sanjeev C. (2005), Electrochemical denitrificaton of simulated ground water.
Water Res,. 39, 40654072.

188B-