Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069
DOI 10.1007/s00521-012-1031-1
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Optimization of specific energy consumption for Bomaplex Red
CR-L dye removal from aqueous solution by electrocoagulation
using Taguchi-neural method
Yalçın Şevki Yildiz • Ercan Şenyiğit •
Şahset İrdemez
Received: 12 January 2012 / Accepted: 21 June 2012 / Published online: 6 July 2012
Ó Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012
Abstract In this investigation, firstly, Taguchi method was
applied to determine the optimum specific energy consump-
tion (SEC) for dye removal from aqueous solution by elec-
trocoagulation using aluminum electrodes. An orthogonal
array (OA16) experimental design that allows to investigate
the simultaneous variations of five parameters (Initial dye
concentration, Initial pH of the solution, Supporting electro-
lyte concentration, Supporting electrolyte type and Current
density) having four levels was employed to evaluate the
effects of experimental parameters with two replicates.
According to Taguchi-neural method, while the optimum
conditions that dye removal efficiency equals to 62.71 % were
found to be initial dye concentration 600 mg/L, initial pH of
the solution 6, supporting electrolyte concentration 7.0 mM,
supporting electrolyte type NaCl, and current density
0.10 mA/cm2. Under these optimum conditions, energy con-
sumption is 0.38 kW h/m3. Alternatively, it can be said that
optimum conditions can be modified as follows supporting
electrolyte concentration of 10.0 mM and supporting elec-
trolyte type CaCl2, for 600 mg/L, initial dye concentration
initial pH of the solution 6, and current density 0.10 mA/cm2.
Under these optimum conditions, SEC and dye removal effi-
ciency are 0.45 kW h/m3 and 69.18 %, respectively.
Y. Ş. Yildiz (&)
Department of Environmental Engineering,
Erciyes University, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey
e-mail: yyildiz@erciyes.edu.tr
E. Şenyiğit
Department of Industrial Engineering,
Erciyes University, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey
Ş. İrdemez
Department of Environmental Engineering,
Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey
Keywords Taguchi-neural method  Optimization 
Energy consumption  Electrocoagulation
1 Introduction
Wastewaters resulted from industries such as textile, dying,
printing cosmetics, food coloring, papermaking, etc. are the
major source of colored effluents [1]. However, textile
industries consume large amount of water and different
type of dyes delivering color to wastewater. The dyes and
colors are toxic, and their adverse effects on fauna, flora,
and human beings are well known [2]. The extensive use of
dyes often causes pollution problems in the form of colored
wastewater discharge into receiving environments. Even
small quantities of dyes can color large water bodies,
which not only affects from an esthetic point of view but
also reduces light penetration and photosynthesis. In
addition, some dyes are either toxic or mutagenic and
carcinogenic [2].
The conventional treatment techniques of wastewater
including dyes involve biological oxidation, chemical
coagulation, advanced oxidation, and adsorption. Biologi-
cal treatment of colored wastewater is cheaper than other
methods, but it is less efficient for decolorization because
of the toxicity of the wastewater and the need for an aer-
ation system [3].
Various physical–chemical techniques are also available
for the removal of dyes from aqueous streams chemical
coagulation followed by sedimentation and adsorption is
the widely used ones, but other advanced techniques are
often applied, such as UV ozonation, ultrasonic decom-
position, or advanced oxidation processes [4–8].
Electrocoagulation used as an electrochemical water and
wastewater treatment technology in its simplest form uses
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1062 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069

an electrochemical cell where a DC voltage is applied to predicted at a given input. In parameter design application,
the electrodes, usually made of iron or aluminum, and the some studies have combined the neural network technique
electrolyte is water or wastewater. EC involves the gen- with the Taguchi method to successfully solve some of the
eration of coagulant in situ by the dissolution of metal from problems traditionally associated with the Taguchi method,
the anode with simultaneous formation of hydroxyl ions specifying the failure to obtain the real optimum [17, 18].
and hydrogen gas at the cathode. This process produces the In this paper, Taguchi-neural method was applied to
corresponding aluminum or iron hydroxides and/or poly- determine the optimum Specific Energy Consumption
hydroxides. The generated gas also helps to float the floc- (SEC) by electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes. In
culated particles at the water surface [9]. the Taguchi method, according to the control factors and
Electrocoagulation occurs via serial steps such as elec- their number of levels, the proper orthogonal arrays are
trolytic reactions at electrode surfaces, formation of coag- selected and the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the
ulants in aqueous phase, adsorption of soluble or colloidal experiment results are obtained to identify the relationship
pollutants on coagulants, which are removed by sedimen- between the parameters and the responses and to obtain the
tation or flotation. The metal ions generation takes place at primary optimums of the operating parameters. Further-
the anode hydrogen gas is released from the cathode. The more, each row in the orthogonal array, together with its
hydrogen gas would also help to float the flocculated par- relative responses, comprised a set of training patterns
ticles out of the water. The main reactions occurring at the (input/target pair) to the neural network. The trained neural
electrode are as follows: network can be used to determine the optimum specific
electric consumption (SEC) for the process of electroco-
Anode: Al(s) ! Al3þ ðaq) þ 3e ð1Þ
agulation for dye removal from aqueous solution.
Cathode: 3H2 O(l) þ 3e ! 3=2H2 ðg) þ 3OH ðaqÞ ð2Þ
Al3? and OH- ions generated by electrode reactions (1)
and (2) react to form various monomeric species such 2 Materials and methods
as Al(OH)2?, Al(OH)2?, Al2(OH)24?, Al(OH)4- and
polymeric species such as Al6(OH)153?, Al7(OH)174?, 2.1 Materials
Al8(OH)204?, Al13O4(OH)247?, Al13(OH)345?, which
transform finally into Al(OH)3(s) according to complex Bomaplex Red CR-L dye used in this study was supplied
precipitation kinetics [1, 10–12]. from a textile mill in Turkey (dye textile industry company
Gaziantep, Turkey), and the chemical structure of the dye
AlðaqÞ 3þ þ 3H2 OðlÞ ! Al(OH)3ðsÞ þ 3HðaqÞ þ ð3Þ was shown in Fig. 1.
Dye solutions were prepared by dissolving desired
On the other hand, the Taguchi method has attracted amounts of dye in 1 L of distilled water and used. All
increased attention. The Taguchi method, a leading opti- chemicals used were analytical grade and used without any
mization technique reducing the experimental cost, enables further treatment. Distilled water was used in all experi-
us to minimize the variability around the target when ments. Solutions were prepared from NaCl (Merck, 99.5 %
bringing the performance value to the target value. Another
advantage is that optimal working conditions determined
from the experimental work can also be reproduced in real
applications [13]. The parameter design used in Taguchi
method is the robust parameter design that integrates tra-
ditional engineering with statistics. It reduces the influence
of variations in environmental conditions and reduces
variations caused by product aging. However, the param-
eter levels selected to form the orthogonal array in the
Taguchi method are discrete, and thus the real optimum
can be only obtained from the available parameter levels.
The Taguchi method significantly reduces experimental
time and cost while simultaneously yielding reliable results
and products [13–16].
Artificial neural network (ANN), with its high learning
and nonlinear mapping ability, can precisely represent the
complex relationship between the input and output spaces.
In the trained neural model, the output can be accurately Fig. 1 Chemical structure of the Bomaplex Red CR-L dye

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Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069
Germany), NaNO3 (Merck, 99 % Germany), Na2SO4
(Sigma-Aldrich, 99 %) and CaCl2 (Merck, [90 %
Germany) used as supporting electrolyte. Treated solution
was collected over a desired period of time from the
reactor, and collected samples were centrifuged (Runne
Heidelberg Germany) 10.000 rpm and 10 min. before the
analysis. The dye was analyzed spectrophotometrically. A
high-precision, double-beam spectrophotometer (Shimadzu
UV-160A Japan) was used to measure the absorbance of
dye solution at wavelengths between 200 and 800 nm, and
450 nm is chosen as the suitable wavelength in this study
to measure the dye concentration in water. The initial pH
was adjusted to a desired value using NaOH (Merck, 5 N
Germany) or HNO3 (Carlo Erba, 65 % Italy).
2.2 Experimental setup and procedure
The experimental setup is schematically shown in Fig. 2.
The EC unit consists of five pair of electrodes made of
plate aluminum with total area of approximately 1,000 cm2
and the gap between the electrodes is 5 mm. Electrodes
were connected to a digital DC power supply (Shenzen-
Mastech HY 3005-3 China) in monopolar mode. Two
digital multimeters (Brymen Bm 201 Taiwan) as amper-
meter and voltmeter were used to measure the current
passing through the circuit and the applied potential
respectively.
The EC unit has been stirred at 150 rpm by a magnetic
stirrer. (Heidolp MR 3004 S Germany). The thermostated
electrocoagulator is made of Plexiglas with the volume of
800 mL. During the experiments, temperature, conductiv-
ity, and pH of the solutions were measured by a multi-
parameter (WTW Multiline P-4 F-Set-3 Germany). Reactor
was operated in batch and galvanostatic mode.
2 performance value corresponding to the optimum working
3
5
4
1
6 2.4 Taguchi-neural method
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup. 1 Water
circulator. 2 Digital D.C. power supply. 3 Digital ampermeter.
4 Digital voltmeter. 5 Electrochemical reactor. 6 Digital magnetic
stirrer
1063
2.3 Statistical analysis
The variables chosen for this investigation are initial dye
concentration, initial pH of the solution, supporting elec-
trolyte concentration and type, and current density. The
variables investigated and their levels were summarized in
Table 1. Reaction period was kept constant in 60 min for
statistical analysis.
The experimental design, based on standard OA16 (24)
orthogonal array, is conducted to change the settings of the
various process parameters (Table 2).
Because it is the most suitable for the conditions being
investigated, five parameters, each with four levels, were
considered. In order to observe the effects of noise sources
(uncontrollable factors) on this process, each experimental
trial was repeated twice under the same conditions at dif-
ferent times. Also, the order of experiments was made
random in order to avoid noise sources, which had not been
considered initially and which could take place during an
experiment and affect the results in a negative way. Per-
formance measure analysis reflecting the variation in the
response at each setting was chosen as the optimization
criteria. Its analysis determines the controllable factors and
their settings, which minimize the variation in process
while keeping the mean response on target. By setting
those factors at their optimal levels, the process can be
made robust to changes in operating and environmental
conditions. When the desired characteristic for the response
is the smaller, it is better Taguchi recommends the use of
smaller is better.
" #
1X n
2
SNS ¼ 10Log y ð4Þ
n n¼1
where S/N is performance characteristics, n is the number
of repetitions done for an experimental combination and Yi
is the performance value of the ith experiment. The
conditions can be predicted by utilizing the balanced
characteristic of OA. For this, the following additive model
may be used
Yi ¼ m þ Xi þ ei ð5Þ
where m is the overall mean of performance value, Xi is the
fixed effect of the parameter level combination used in the
ith experiment and ei is the random error in the ith
experiment [17, 18].
Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are systems that are
deliberately constructed to make use of some organiza-
tional principles resembling those of the human brain.
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1064 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069

Table 1 Variables and their

Variables Levels
values corresponding to their
levels investigated in the 1 2 3 4
experiments
(A) Initial dye concentration (mg/L) 100 200 400 600
(B) Initial pH of the solution (-) 3 4 5 6
(C) Supporting electrolyte concentration (mM) 0.0 2.5 5.0 10.0
(D) Supporting electrolyte type (-) NaCl NaNO3 Na2SO4 CaCl2
2
(E) Current density (mA/cm ) 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00

Many different neural network models have been proposed
since the 1980s. ANNs, with their excellent learning and
nonlinear mapping ability, can precisely represent the
complex relationships between the input and output spaces.
In ANNs, the Levenberg–Marquardt back propagation
(LMBP) algorithm, with its high efficiency, high precision
and ease of convergence, is applied in this study. The
details of LMBP can be found in the literature [19–22].
The number of hidden neurons will affect neural net-
work performance. A large number of hidden neurons
offers excessive flexibility and results in over fitting, but
too few hidden neurons can constrain network learning
capability and limit its ability to approximate arbitrary
accuracy. Therefore, in neural network design, the optimal
number of hidden neurons is generally determined by
comparing trained networks in different numbers of hidden
neurons [21, 22]. This study applied the early stopping
method to improve neural network generalization as Wu
et al. [21, 22].
There are four runs in each trial of the factor combi-
nation, namely y1 and y2, which can be treated as targets in
the ANN, and has a set of the different factors, which is a
set of five inputs in the ANN. Each row in the orthogonal
array has a set of five inputs and two targets, so there are
two input/target pairs. Overall, a total of 32 input/target
pairs in 16 trials are obtained. The 32 input/target pairs
were divided into three subsets, including training, vali-
dation, and testing sets. Functionally, the input/target pairs
of 60 and 20 % were randomly selected for the training and
the validation sets, respectively, while the remaining 20 %
served as the testing set. The required network can be
acquired by using the neural network package software
Neurosolution.
In the Taguchi method, the number of the factorial level
in the L16 (24) orthogonal array used in this paper is four
levels. It can be obtain which level at each factor is opti-
mum, but the actual optimum cannot be certain it may be
among the four levels. The Taguchi-neural method can

Table 2 Experimental variables, their levels, specific energy consumptions (SEC) dye removal efficiency results of conducted experiments
corresponding to L16 experimental plan
Exp. No Variables and their levels Specific energy consumption (kW h/m3) Dye removal efficiency (%)
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) First Second Average Average
series series

1 1 1 1 1 1 1.68 2.18 1.930 92.22

2 1 2 2 2 2 3.35 4.11 3.730 91.25
3 1 3 3 3 3 4.68 6.69 5.685 73.03
4 1 4 4 4 4 2.02 4.02 3.020 98.33
5 2 1 2 3 4 7.03 9.94 8.485 90.70
6 2 2 1 4 3 7.17 10.78 8.975 97.17
7 2 3 4 1 2 0.96 1.40 1.180 92.72
8 2 4 3 2 1 1.17 1.18 1.175 67.30
9 3 1 3 4 2 0.99 1.04 1.015 99.38
10 3 2 4 3 1 0.73 0.65 0.690 45.12
11 3 3 1 2 4 7.84 7.66 7.750 93.91
12 3 4 2 1 3 2.97 2.78 2.875 88.62
13 4 1 4 2 3 3.92 3.98 3.950 83.37
14 4 2 3 1 4 3.43 3.23 3.330 88.91
15 4 3 2 4 1 0.41 0.43 0.420 94.92
16 4 4 1 3 2 2.03 2.10 2.065 86.52

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Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069
then construct relationships between the operating factors
and responses, so the intervals between the factorial levels
can be divided into more desired levels, and which level is
the actual optimum can be determined precisely. The
Taguchi approach is used to perform the experiments
according to the orthogonal array selected in this paper. It
uses the orthogonal array for experimental design and
signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) for the robust parameter design,
and can optimize the output response and minimize the
variance of the output response. From Table 2, the experi-
mental results can be acquired, and 32 input/target pairs
can be organized to the ANN. In the ANN, all input/target
pairs presented can be utilized to train the network and get
the outputs of the corresponding network.
3 Results and discussions
3.1 Statistical analysis
Variation of Specific energy consumption (SEC) with time
can be seen in Fig. 3. Figure 3 was plotted using the data
obtained from experiments 1 and 15. SEC was selected as
performance criteria and calculated according to Eq. (6).
ðv  I  tÞ
SECðkW h=m3 Þ ¼
V
where v is the applied potential, I is the current passing
through the circuit, t is the reaction time, and V is the
volume of the electrocoagulator.
As it would be expected, calculated SEC values increase
with reaction time, but all evaluations were conducted
based on SEC values calculated according to reaction time
of 60 min. Thus, average SEC values in Table 2 were
strongly influenced by two parameters namely Current
Density (CD) and applied potential. Current passing
through the circuit—of course current density—is a func-
tion of applied potential, which is related to electrical
1.8
1.6 Exp. No
1.4 1 is increasing the electrical conductivity of the wastewater.
SEC (kW h/m 3)
1.2 15
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50
t (min.)
Fig. 3 Variation of SEC values as a function of reaction time
1065
conductivity of the wastewater. It can be clearly seen that
SEC values for Exp. 1 are higher than that of Exp. 15 (See
Table 2). The main difference of these experimental con-
ditions is average applied potential values, which equal to
4.93 and 1.22 V Exp. No 1 and 15, respectively.
In Fig. 4a, effect of initial dye concentration on SEC has
been presented. It can clearly be seen that as initial dye
concentration increases, SEC values decreases and it
should be kept in mind that performance criteria—namely
SEC—has been evaluated according to ‘‘Smaller is better’’
thus for either this parameter or the others, optimum con-
ditions can be provided when S/N value calculated by
Eq. (4) equals to maximum. So, it can be concluded that
optimum condition for initial dye concentration is level 4
for which equals to 600 mg/L for this parameter.
Effect of the initial pH of the dye solution (pHi) on SEC
has been shown in Fig. 4b. When Fig. 4b examined, it can
be said that optimum condition for initial pH of the dye
solution is fourth or third level of the parameter, which pHi
value equals to 6 and 5, respectively. For pHi, value of
contribution to optimum SEC is highly close to each other.
These contributions are -6.77 and -6.73 for pHi values 5
and 6, respectively. Consequently, optimum condition for
initial pH is level 4, which equals to 6.
Figure 4c illustrates the effect of supporting electrolyte
ð6Þ concentration on SEC. It can be seen from the figure, as
supporting electrolyte concentration rises, it provides more
favorable results for energy consumption. As it would be
expected, optimum condition for SEC is the fourth level of
the parameter (CSE = 10.0 mM, See Table 1). Because
increasing supporting electrolyte concentration causes the
rising electrical conductivity of the wastewater. For
example, when supporting electrolyte concentration has
been arranged in ascending order for NaCl, in Table 2 exp.
numbers 1, 12, 14 and 7 have been obtained. In these
experimental conditions, values of average electrical conduc-
tivity equal to 370.80, 690.20, 1,063.50 and 1,348.20 ls/cm,
respectively.
Investigation of supporting electrolyte type has been
conducted using NaCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, CaCl2 as seen in
Table 1. Essentially, function of the supporting electrolyte
Not only in electrocoagulation but also in any other elec-
trochemical process, the electrolysis voltage is one of
the most important operation variables. And it strongly
depends on the conductivity of water/wastewater, current
density, inter-electrode distance, and surface state of the
electrodes. Electrical conductivity is easily controllable
factor among the parameters mentioned above; using sup-
porting electrolyte, it can be said that NaCl and CaCl2
60 70
provide the highest contributions, which equal to -6.75
and -5.47, respectively, on SEC from the Fig. 4d, thus it
can be concluded that real optimum supporting electrolyte
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1066
Fig. 4 a Effect of initial dye concentration level parameter on
optimization criteria. b Effect of initial pH level parameter on
optimization criteria. c Effect of supporting electrolyte concentration
type is NaCl, whereas according to Fig. 4d, optimum real
optimum supporting electrolyte type should be CaCl2.
Figure 4e demonstrates the effect of current density on
SEC. According to Fig. 4e, optimum condition for current
density is the first level (0.25 mA/cm2). In all electro-
chemical processes, current passing through the circuit—of
course current density—is highly effective parameter,
based on removal efficiency because it determines the
amount of coagulant released to the reactor in electroco-
agulation process. Additionally, it is one of the two com-
ponents for SEC together with applied potential.
Using ANOVA results as shown in Table 3, the control
factors E (Current Density), C (supporting electrolyte
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Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069
level parameter on optimization criteria. d Effect of supporting
electrolyte type level parameter on optimization criteria. e Effect of
current density level parameter on optimization criteria
concentration), A (Initial dye concentration), and D (sup-
porting electrolyte type) are the significant parameters that
affect the quality characteristic (SEC). When evaluated the
ANOVA table, initial dye concentration is one of the least
significant parameter on SEC. Because it strongly related
production process, it cannot be controlled. While the other
parameters such as supporting electrolyte type, supporting
electrolyte concentration, current density, and initial pH
can be easily controlled. For this reason, current density,
supporting electrolyte concentration, and supporting elec-
trolyte type have been taken into account in this study.
Figures 5 and 6 show the relationship among the current
density, supporting electrolyte concentration, supporting
Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069 1067

Table 3 Results of the analysis of variance for the SEC values

Variables Sum of Degrees of Mean of F Cr (%)
squares (SS) freedom (DOF) squares (MS)

(A) Initial dye concentration (mg/L) 27.326 3 9.109 9.5 11.09

(B) Initial pH of the solution (-) 17.025 3 5.675 5.92 6.42
(C) Supporting electrolyte concentration (mM) 40.929 3 13.643 14.23 17.26
(D) Supporting electrolyte type (-) 18.798 3 6.266 6.53 7.22
(E) Current density (mA/cm2) 130.787 3 43.596 45.46 58.01
Error 15.344 16 0.959
Total 250.21 31

electrolyte type, and SEC. In Taguchi approach, there are

only four levels for the control factors. The current density
levels are 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 mA/cm2. The levels of
the supporting electrolyte concentration are 0.0, 2.5, 5.0,
and 10.0 mM. The supporting electrolyte types are NaCl,
NaNO3, Na2SO4, and CaCl2, respectively. After using the
ANNs, the scope of the supporting electrolyte concentra-
tion between 0.0 and 10.0 mM can be further divided into
small intervals, at every 1.0 mM. The scope of the current
density between 0.1 and 1 mA/cm2 can be further divided
into small intervals, at every 0.1 mA/cm2. But, supporting
electrolyte types cannot be divided into small intervals.
In this paper, NaCl and CaCl2, which are the significant
supporting electrolyte types, are dealt with (see Fig. 4d).
As a result NaCl (see Fig. 5) and CaCl2 (see Fig. 6), per-
formances are compared. The actual optimal combinations Fig. 5 The results of simulating different the current density,
of the control factor levels can certainly be determined as supporting electrolyte concentration, and NaCl on SEC
A4 B4 C4 D1 E1 and A4 B4 C4 D4 E1. As learned in
Figs. 5 and 6, the trends of specific energy consumption
performance can clearly be presented. While both the
supporting electrolyte concentration and current density
increase simultaneously with that the other factors are at
appropriate conditions, it is possible to improve the specific
energy consumption performance. Figures can further offer
more valuable information to operate specific energy con-
sumption performance at different operating conditions:
At the supporting electrolyte concentration of 7.0 mM
and the current density of 0.1 mA/cm2, the range of the
minimum specific energy consumption simulated by the
trained network is 0.487 kW h/m3, close to 0.38 kW h/m3,
which is the range of the minimum specific energy con-
sumption obtained via the confirmation tests (as shown in
Table 4) at the optimal combinations of the control factor Fig. 6 Results of simulating different the current density, supporting
levels. electrolyte concentration, and CaCl2 on SEC
At the supporting electrolyte concentration of 10.0 mM
and the current density of 0.1 mA/cm2, the range of the Table 4) at the optimal combinations of the control factor
minimum specific energy consumption simulated by the levels. Therefore, in terms of minimum specific energy
trained network is 0.660 kW h/m3, close to 0.45 kW h/m3, consumption, the supporting electrolyte concentration, the
which is the range of the minimum specific energy con- current density, and supporting electrolyte types can be set
sumption obtained via the confirmation tests (as shown in to 7.0 mM, 0.1 mA/cm2 and NaCl, respectively.

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Table 4 Results of confirmation tests
Case no A B C D
Level Value Level Value Level Value Level
1a 4 600 4 6 b
7 1
2 4 600 4 6 4 10 4 CaCl2
a
Optimum conditions
b
Interval desired levels according to Taguchi-neural method
4 Conclusions
In this investigation, the Taguchi-neural method was used
to determine the optimum conditions for the SEC. Effect of
initial dye concentration, initial pH of the dye solution,
supporting electrolyte concentration, supporting electrolyte
type, and current density on the electrocoagulation of
Bomaplex Red CR-L dye have been investigated, and
effects of these parameters on the system performance have
been evaluated based on SEC. It can be said that the
Taguchi-neural method is precisely able to use for the
optimization of dye removal from wastewaters by elec-
trocoagulation method.
1. Each row in the orthogonal array together with its
relative responses was used to establish a set of
training patterns to the neural network. The neural
network can then construct relationships between the
control factors and responses in the SEC. The actual
optimums of the operating parameters in the SEC were
obtained by the trained neural network. The Taguchi-
neural method can then construct relationships between
the operating factors and responses, so the intervals
between the factorial levels can be divided into more
desired levels, and which level is the actual optimum can
be determined precisely.
2. The significant parameters on SEC are current density,
supporting electrolyte concentration, initial dye con-
centration, supporting electrolyte type, and initial pH
of the solution, which contribution ratio values equal
to 58.01, 17.26, 11.09, 7.22 and 6.42 %, respectively
(see Table 3).
3. The optimum conditions for the parameters initial dye
concentration, initial pH of the dye solution, support-
ing electrolyte concentration, supporting electrolyte
type, and current density are 600 mg/L, 6, 7.0 mM
NaCl and 0.1 mA/cm2, respectively. Under these
conditions, SEC equals to 0.38 kW h/m3. Alterna-
tively, in case of using 10.0 mM CaCl2 as supporting
electrolyte instead of 7.0 mM NaCl, SEC equals to
0.45 kW h/m3. (Table 2).
4. Dye removal efficiency values calculated for CaCl2
have the maximum values within the groups arranged
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Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 23:1061–1069
E Observed Predicted Confidence
limit
Value Level Value
NaCl b
0.1 0.38 0.487 0–2.562
b
0.1 0.45 0.660 0–2.735
according to initial dye concentrations. For example, in
the initial dye concentrations of 100 and 600 mg/L dye
removal efficiencies for exp no 4 equal to 98.33 % and
for exp no 15 94.92 % respectively (Table 4).
5. The predicted and observed SEC values are within
confidence limits. Thus, it may be concluded that the
additive model is adequate for describing the depen-
dence of the SEC for the various parameters.
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