Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Bioinspired modeling and biogeography-based optimization of

electrocoagulation parameters for enhanced heavy metal removal
Ananya Jain a, Saumitra Rai a, Rallapalli Srinivas a, b, *, Riyadh I. Al-Raoush c
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India
b
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, USA
c
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor: Cecilia Maria Villas Bôas de Electrocoagulation is an effective wastewater treatment process for the removal of heavy metals. This study
Almeida focuses on deriving optimal conditions for removing heavy metals, viz. Lead (Pb), Cobalt (Co), and Manganese
(Mn) from simulated wastewater by investigating removal efficiency and energy consumption of electro­
Keywords: coagulation process. Five operational parameters namely pH (2–10), current density (0.076–0.189 A/cm2), inter-
Artificial neural network
electrode distance (3–7 cm), solution temperature (30–70 ◦ C) and charging time (5–25 cm) have been analyzed.
Electrocoagulation
To improve the treatment of heavy metals, a novel coupled approach, namely Artificial neural network - non-
Heavy metal removal
Multi-objective optimization dominated sorting Biogeography based optimization (ANN-NSBBO), has been proposed. Using the experi­
Wastewater treatment mental data, a feed-forward backpropagation ANN model is used with removal efficiency and energy con­
sumption as the outputs. Optimal values of operational parameters for maximum removal efficiency and
minimum energy consumption were obtained using multi-objective NSBBO over the trained ANN model. True
pareto fronts for Cobalt, Lead and Manganese were obtained after 100 iterations of the optimization algorithm.
The maximum removal efficiency of 98.66% was obtained for Cobalt at the electrical energy consumption of
0.204 kWh. Minimum energy consumption for electrocoagulation of Lead (5.34 x 10− 6 kWh) gave 82.48%
removal efficiency. The maximum removal efficiency of Manganese (101.238%) was achieved at 7.64 pH, 0.084
A/cm2 current density, 3.188 cm inter-electrode distance, 47.49 ◦ C solution temperature, 19.758 min charging
time, and 0.145 kWh energy consumption. The non-dominated optimum tradeoff between removal efficiency
and energy consumption provides clarity on operating conditions for the electrocoagulation process. The pro­
posed approach of enhancing heavy metal treatment could assist municipalities, industries, and the scientific
communities in achieving the United Nation’s sustainable development goal of heavy metal remediation.

1. Introduction presence of heavy metals in the wastewater poses a huge challenge to

Industrial wastewaters generated from processes such as electro­
plating or acid mine consist of a range of toxic substances, including
degreasing solvents, cyanides, oil, fat, alkaline cleaning agents, and
heavy metals (Hunsom et al., 2005; Srinivas et al., 2017). Heavy metals
such as Co, Cr, Cu, Cd, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn form the most
widespread and toxic component of wastewater effluent (Zhou et al.,
2020). These metals get accumulated in soft tissues of the human body,
causing health hazards such as muscle dysfunction, organ failure,
anaemia, skin irritation, cancer (kidney, liver, lungs or gastric) for
generations (Srinivas et al., 2017; Burakov et al., 2018; Sankaran et al.,
2020). The chemical and biological water pollution seeding from the
the industries, governments across the globe, and civil society in general
(Bazrafshan et al., 2015). A variety of treatment processes are available
for heavy metal removal, such as advanced oxidation, ion exchange,
reverse osmosis, electrochemical treatment, liquid extraction, adsorp­
tion, chemical precipitation (Ashkanani et al., 2019; Beidokhti et al.,
2019), biological processes (Kim et al., 2019), and membrane separation
(Tawalbeh et al., 2018). Such advanced treatment technologies are
feasible and effective for application in sizeable urban wastewater
treatment plants due to economies of scale (Oleszkiewicz et al., 2015).
Removing heavy metals from wastewater could also improve bioenergy
production (Ali et al., 2021; Ahmad et al., 2022). The biological pro­
cesses occurring during wastewater treatment result in biomass

* Corresponding author. Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India.
E-mail address: r.srinivas@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in (R. Srinivas).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130622
Received 22 September 2021; Received in revised form 14 January 2022; Accepted 17 January 2022
Available online 21 January 2022
0959-6526/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Jain et al.
production (secondary sludges and biological solids), which are a source
of bioenergy that can be used in the form of electricity (Ahmad et al.,
2022). Goswami et al., 2021 reviewed advanced nanomaterial ap­
proaches for removing heavy metals from the wastewater for enhanced
bioenergy production. Bordoloi et al. (2020) demonstrated the usage of
algal species as an eco-friendly and ecologically sound treatment process
to remove heavy metals and help in carbon sequestration and bioenergy
production. Raikova et al. (2019) studied thermochemical conversions,
namely pyrolysis or hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), to segregate
heavy metals into a relatively inert and compact solid phase to produce a
bio-crude oil for bioenergy production. Connecting to industries for a
regular supply of chemicals, adequate machinery with maintenance, and
technical support is pivotal for sustainable treatment technologies.
However, such technologies are not economical for smaller and remote
communities as they do not benefit from economies of scale and are not
always reliable due to weak connectivity with industrial centers (Daley
et al., 2015).
It is paramount to view the aim of economical wastewater treatment
from the perspective of environmental taxation. Through taxation on
conventional energy sources, environmental regulation makes them
cost-competitive with cleaner fuels (Shahzad, 2020). Several countries
have implemented taxes on carbon emissions to promote the use of
alternative environment-friendly sources of energy (Yuyin and Jinxi,
2018). Shahzad (2020) comprehensively explains the dynamics between
environmental taxation, environmental quality, and energy consump­
tion. Environment-based taxation is instrumental in reducing Green
House Gas (GHG) emissions only if the fossil fuel price guides the tax
price, and the growth in taxation is greater than the increase in pur­
chasing power of consumers (Ghazouani et al., 2020). Also, the taxation
policies must be applicable for the long term to be adopted in future
project frameworks (Ghazouani et al., 2021). International trade pol­
icies like imposing dumping duties on global firms would encourage
developing countries to also implement carbon tax, which can aid in
achieving he sustainable development goals (SDGs) of United Nations
such as clean energy sources, innovation in the industrial sector, and
climate action (Bashir et al., 2021). In light of such environmental
regulations, economical wastewater treatment should minimize the
plant’s operating cost by minimizing carbon-based tax. Thus, reliable
and optimized treatment processes are needed that require minimal
external inputs like electricity and chemicals and exhibit a high degree
of robustness towards addressing changes in wastewater characteristics
in an economical manner.
Electrocoagulation (EC) has proved to be an economically feasible
and reliable technology for wastewater treatment in such remote regions
(Devlin et al., 2019) and is widely applied for the removal of heavy
metals (Garcia-Segura et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2020). During EC, elec­
trochemical dissolution of a sacrificial metal electrode (usually Iron or
Aluminium) occurs. The metal is converted into soluble or insoluble
species that aid in coagulation and result in adsorption or precipitation
of colloidal or soluble pollutants (Mollah et al., 2004; Devlin et al., 2017;
Al-Qodah et al., 2020). EC utilizes simple and easily operable equipment
while ensuring well settled and dewaterable floc formation. EC’s
removal efficiency and energy consumption depend on operating con­
ditions of process parameters, namely pH, current density,
inter-electrode distance, solution temperature, and charging time
(Esmaeili and Khoshnevisan, 2016; Maurya et al., 2021). Esmaeili and
Khoshnevisan (2016) achieved 94.48% removal efficiency of the nickel
at pH = 3, 70 mg/L initial nickel concentration, 0.3 g biomass, and a
contact time of 30 min using response surface methodology (RSM) for
process optimization. Maurya et al. (2021) optimized five process pa­
rameters, namely pH, temperature(◦ C), feed flux(ml/min), substrate
flow(ml/min), and hydraulic retention time(h), to improve the effi­
ciency of heavy metal removal in a biofilm reactor. EC comprises several
simultaneous reactions like electro-dissolution of the anode, hydrolysis
of metal ions, generation of hydroxyl complexes, and adsorption of
pollutants. Due to complex non-linear interdependencies of process
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Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622
parameters, with removal efficiency and energy consumption, it is
challenging to model and optimize operating conditions using simple
linear multivariate correlations. Bioinspired computational model
namely Artificial neural networks (ANN) are best suited for such
modeling as they are capable of recognizing and efficiently reproducing
the cause-effect relationship among multiple input/output systems
(Salari et al., 2005; Maurya et al., 2021). In this study, ANN has been
employed to model electrocoagulation of Pb2+, Co2+, and Mn2+ from
simulated wastewater. Five input parameters, namely pH, current den­
sity, inter-electrode distance, solution temperature, and charging time,
form the five nodes of the input layer. The output layer consists of two
nodes representing the percentage removal of heavy metal and energy
consumption.
In addition to modeling, optimization of EC is required to analyze the
removal efficiency and for sustainable management of process param­
eters to achieve a desirable wastewater treatment. Past studies demon­
strate the capability of EC to treat wastewater effectively but do not
provide much insight into the chemical and physical processes that
govern it (Adhoum et al., 2004; Hakizimana et al., 2017). Typically,
optimization is carried out by multifactor experiments where a single
factor is varied, and its effect is noted on other constant factors (Wang
et al., 2007). Such conventional methods are time-consuming and do not
guarantee optimization to a desirable degree. In recent studies,
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has been applied to optimize EC
(Bhatti et al., 2011; Uzoh et al., 2020). Though RSM provides a window
to understand the interdependency of input parameters on a given
output, its inability to perform multi-objective optimization presents an
obstacle in its effective implementation to model EC. Prediction error
identification methods (PEM) have also been employed for the optimi­
zation of EC (Sendrescu, 2013). Still, such nonlinear parameter opti­
mization techniques are not sufficiently reliable as convergence to a true
optimal solution is not assured.
Multi-objective optimization techniques have proved to overcome
such limitations by optimizing wastewater treatment processes in more
flexible and precise ways (Zhang et al., 2014) Multi-optimization
problem presents a set of optimal (pareto) solutions, and all the solu­
tions on a given pareto-optimal front are said to be equally good (Tian
et al., 2017). Multicriterion decision-making methods and other clas­
sical optimization techniques emphasize one particular pareto-optimal
solution, thus converting the multi-objective problem to a single
objective problem. The drawback of such methods is that they have to be
run multiple times to find a specific solution, which is time-consuming
and inefficient. However, several multi-objective evolutionary algo­
rithms (MOEAs) have been employed in recent years for optimization,
which can generate a pareto-optimal front in a single step (Ismayilov
and Topcuoglu, 2020). This study proposes a hybrid optimization
technique called non-dominated sorting biogeography-based optimiza­
tion (NSBBO) to optimize EC (Ma et al., 2017; Singh and Ingole, 2019). A
modified form of non-dominated sorting has been applied, using
biogeography-based optimization (BBO) instead of genetic algorithm.
BBO is a biological algorithm based on mimicking species’ migration
patterns from one habitat to another. The advantage of BBO over Ge­
netic algorithm (GA) and Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is that the
solutions generated in a particular cycle do not die in the next cycle. In
PSO, solutions typically form a cluster, but clustering is not observed in
BBO (Simon, 2008; Singh and Ingole, 2019). Due to these characteris­
tics, BBO proves to be a better algorithm to accompany non-dominated
sorting, where previous solutions in non-dominated sorting are pre­
served and combined while ranking the pareto optimal fronts, which
cannot be achieved by clustering. In NSBBO technique, non-dominated
sorting is used to rank and maintain distinct pareto optimal fronts while
BBO is employed to generate the optimal solutions which populate the
pareto optimal front. Considering these advantages, the authors have
used NSBBO in this study to optimize the electrocoagulation of Pb2+,
Co2+, and Mn2+ using conflicting multi-objectives.
The main objectives of the paper are to 1) model the complex
A. Jain et al.
electrochemical process of electrocoagulation using ANN, and 2) using
NSBBO to perform multi-objective optimization of the process parame­
ters (pH, current density, inter-electrode distance, solution temperature
and charging time), while accounting for the conflicting objectives of
‘percentage of heavy metal removal from wastewater’ and ‘energy
consumption’. Overall, the study develops a coupled framework of ANN
and NSBBO to model and optimize the electrocoagulation of Pb2+, Co2+,
and Mn2+ from wastewater.
2. Materials and methods
The experimental results of the Electrocoagulation process were
obtained from secondary literature (Uzoh et al., 2020), and govern­
mental sources (CPCB, 2020). Observed experimental results of elec­
trocoagulation were modelled by employing ANN. The weights obtained
after training the ANN network describe the relationship among input
parameters, (pH, current density, inter-electrode distance, solution
temperature and charging time) and output parameters (metal removal
efficiency and amount of energy consumed). This relationship function
is fed into the NSBBO system as the objective fitness function. BBO
utilizes this fitness function to obtain a sample population which is
sorted into Pareto-optimal fronts using non-dominated sorting.
2.1. Experimental setup
Electrocoagulation is carried out in a cylindrical glass cell that
houses anode and cathode electrodes individually connected to termi­
nals of an electric chamber. A fixed amount of heavy metal salt is added
to water to prepare the stock solution of wastewater. The heavy metal
salts relevant for this study are hydrated salt of Cobalt (CoCl2.6H2O),
Lead nitrate (Pb[NO3]2), hydrated salt of Manganese (MnSO4.H2O).
Additionally, reagents such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), aqueous so­
dium chloride (NaCl), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and acetone (CH₃)₂CO
are added. A nanofilter is attached to the assembly, whose samples are
analyzed for metal ion concentrations. Equations on heavy metal
removal efficiency and energy consumption are described in S1 section
of Supplementary material.
2.2. Datasets
Wastewater generated from electroplating, acid mining, alloying,
battery, sheets and cable sheaths manufacturing, and soldering have
been the focus of this study. In addition, the study mainly focused on
iron and steel, petroleum, and chemical industries. Pb, Co and Mn are
extensively used in these industries and their operations. Lead is used in
batteries, cable sheaths manufacturing. It is also a constituent of solder
and sheets, and machinery parts made from Lead compounds are used to
dampen noise and vibration. Cobalt is used in many alloys and high-
speed steels. It is also used as catalysts in petroleum and chemical in­
dustries. Manganese is used to remove oxygen and sulfur when iron ore
(an iron and oxygen compound) is converted into iron. It also is an
important alloy that helps in converting iron into steel. When used as
allow, it decreases the brittleness of steel and imparts strength. In
addition to Pb, Co and Mn, these industries also use other heavy metals
such as copper, nickel, chromium, silver and zinc. However, the datasets
used in this study show high concentrations of Lead, Manganese and
Cobalt in water/wastewater, which are above the acceptable limits as
regulated by environmental agencies. The collected data represents 30
sample points with distinct combinations of input variables, for which
metal removal efficiency and electrical energy consumed were recorded.
The data so collected represents a 25− 1 (2n− 1, n denotes number of in­
puts) fractional factorial array (FFA), which is structured through Cen­
tral Composite Design (CCD), and satisfactorily captures the wide
process variability observed in EC. The range of input parameters for
which data was collected is given below:
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Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622
Initial pH, x1: 2− 10
Current density, x2 (A/cm2): 0:076–0:189
Inter− electrode distance, x3 (cm): 3− 7
Solution temperature, x4 (oC): 30− 70
Charging time, x5 (min): 5− 20
All the input values were normalized to the range of (0–1) before trans­
ferring to the input layer of ANN. The process of normalization has been
explained in section S2 of the Supplementary material. Table 1 represents the
normalized values, which were the inputs into the ANN model for all 15
sample experiments. The complete table with normalized input values of 30
experiments can be found in Supplementary material (Table S2).
Fig. 1 illustrates the heavy metal removal efficiency observed for 30
experiment cycles for the metals Pb2+, Mn2+, and Co2+. It can be seen
that highest metal removal efficiency of 97% was observed for simulated
wastewater sample with dissolved hydrated salt of Cobalt. The lowest
removal efficiency of 71% is observed for wastewater with Manganese
salt, while removal efficiency for Lead wastewater solution remained
almost constant around 88% across samples. The amount of electrical
energy consumed corresponding to achieved efficiency rates and
experiment number has also been shown.
2.3. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)
ANN is a machine learning tool that does’t need problem-solving al­
gorithms instead of classic techniques. Moreover, they have innate
generalization ability effective in responding to patterns similar but non-
identical to the ones they have been trained with, which helps in simu­
lating and enhancing various wastewater treatment processes (Ranade
et al., 2021). ANN is capable of mapping non-linear datasets accurately
without ample information. It consists of three layers, where the input
layer is used to model the independent variables, and the last layer con­
sists of the output variables. Hidden layers are present between these two
layers, which act as feature predictors. Each of these three layers contains
multiple nodes depending on the number of input and output parameters,
and the connection between these nodes are called weights (Maurya et al.,
2021). In this study, observed experimental data of EC has been modelled
using ANN. Each of five nodes on the input layer represent a control
parameter of the process, while the two nodes in the output layer represent
the output parameters that need to be optimized.
2.4. Multi-objective optimization
In this study, conflicting multi-objective parameters are metal
removal efficiency and electrical energy consumption in EC of heavy
metals in wastewater. Such multi-objective optimization has a trade-off
between the objectives and their solutions are called pareto optimal
solutions or non-dominated solutions. The choice of one solution over
the other requires knowledge of the problem (here electrocoagulation
process) and is experiment specific. Hence, it is desirable to find the
entire set of Pareto-optimal solutions. One of the fundamental and
commonly used techniques to achieve multi-objective optimization is
through non-dominated sorting. It is an enhancement to the conven­
tional methods like Pareto-archived evolution strategy (PAES) and
strength-Pareto EA (SPEA). Non-dominated sorting works on fast sorting
of non-dominated solutions, elitism and selection operator, based on
sorting grade of each solution and crowding distance.
2.4.1. Non-dominated sorting
There are three main steps to sort a population viz. fast non­
dominated sorting procedure, fast crowded distance estimation pro­
cedure, and a simple crowded comparison operator.
Fast Nondominated Sorting Approach: For each solution, domination
A. Jain et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

Table 1
Normalized values (0–1) of experimental input parameters used for ANN modelling.
Exp. No. Normalized Initial pH Normalized Current Density Normalized Inter-electrode Normalized Solution Normalized Charging time
(x1) (A/cm2) distance (x3) Temperature (ᣞC) (x5)
(x2) (x4)

1 0.4 0.50 0.5 0.5 0.5

2 0.4 0.50 0.5 0.5 0.5
3 0.4 0.50 0.5 0.5 0.5
4 0.4 0.50 0.5 0.5 0.5
5 0.2 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.75
6 0.6 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
7 0.2 0.75 0.25 0.25 0.25
8 0.6 0.75 0.25 0.25 0.75
9 0.2 0.25 0.75 0.25 0.25
10 0.6 0.25 0.75 0.25 0.75
11 0.2 0.75 0.75 0.25 0.75
12 0.6 0.75 0.75 0.25 0.25
13 0.2 0.25 0.25 0.75 0.25
14 0.6 0.25 0.25 0.75 0.75
15 0.2 0.75 0.25 0.75 0.75
Error ±0.001 ±0.005 ±0.003 ±0.008 ±0.004
limits

Fig. 1. Percentage of heavy metal removed against Energy Consumption for Pb2+, Mn2+, and Co2+.

count (na) i.e., the number of solutions dominating the solution ‘a’ and
Sa (set of solutions dominated by a) are calculated based on the re­
quirements of the objective functions. Every solution ‘a’, having na =
0 goes in the first non-dominated front. For each solution ‘a’, the
domination count of every member (b) of Sb is reduced by one. If the
domination count of any member b becomes zero, that solution goes in
the second non-dominated front. Procedure is repeated for every
member. Second front gives the third front and so on. The process stops
when all fronts are found. The first non-dominated pareto front would
represent the set of most optimal solutions. Within a given front, all
solutions are considered to be equally good, and are represented as a
‘non-dominated’ front. The dominating solutions in this study are set of
operational parameters (pH, current density, inter-electrode distance,
solution temperature and charging time) yielding greater removal effi­
ciency and lesser energy consumption.
Crowding Distance Estimation: For objective function ‘Removal
efficiency’,
• remaining solutions are assigned absolute normalized difference in
the function values of two neighboring solutions as the distance
value.
These steps are repeated for the objective function ‘Energy Con­
sumption’ as well. The final crowding-distance value equals the sum of
distance values corresponding to both of these objectives.
Crowded-Comparison Operator): Every solution (matrix of five elec­
trocoagulation process parameters) in the randomly generated popula­
tion has two characteristics i.e., non-domination rank (arank) and
crowding distance (adistance). A partial order is defined in the form of
equation (1):
a≺n b if (arank < brank ) or (arank = brank ) and (adis tan ce > bdis tan ce ) (1)
Between solutions of different non-domination ranks, one with a
lower rank is preferred. If solutions belong to the same front, the one
located in a less crowded region is preferred.

• the population is first sorted in ascending manner based on the
magnitude of the objective function;
• solutions with minimum and maximum function values are given an
infinite distance value; and
2.4.2. Non-dominated sorting biogeography based optimization (NSBBO)
The extension of biogeography theory for optimization is commonly
known as Biogeography Based Optimization (BBO). Like other AI based
heuristic techniques, BBO works with a population of candidate solu­
tions identified as habitats. Suitability Index Variables (SIVs) in BBO are

4
A. Jain et al.
solution features similar to a gene in GA. A good solution is a habitat of
high Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) and a poor solution is a habitat of
low HSI. HSI measures the goodness of a solution, as fitness in other
algorithms. Two main steps used in BBO are: migration for information
sharing between habitats and mutation for simulating sudden events.
Poor solutions can improve upon accepting new features from good
solutions by migration. After migration, the mutation is performed for
the whole population. Migration and mutation operations are elabo­
rately discussed in Simon (2008).
Fig. 2. Schematic procedure of biography based optimization algorithm with non-dominated sorting of two contradictory objectives, i.e., removal efficiency and
energy consumption.
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Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622
Current research on Evolutionary Algorithms concludes that
population-based algorithms like BBO are strong tools to solve multi-
objective optimization problems and can be effectively used to miti­
gate complications of conventional single objective methods, such as
sensitivity to the form of Pareto-optimal front and requirement of
numerous runs to find multiple Pareto-optimal solutions. Also, BBO has
good exploitation ability due to its unique migration operator and
exploration of search space. Therefore, a multi-objective form of BBO
(NSBBO) has been developed in our work. Fig. 2 describes the steps
A. Jain et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

involved in a biography based optimization algorithm with non- calculating output values for every possible input through a mathe­
dominated sorting of two contradictory objectives, i.e. removal effi­ matical relation. Feed-forward backpropagation has been selected as it
ciency and energy consumption. ‘N’ number of population, each with works well for one hidden layer. In contrast, TRAINLM, where weights
five parameters chosen in this study, undergo sorting to yield a column and biases are updated through Levenberg-Marquadt backpropagation
matrix of ‘better to poor’ solutions. Migration and mutation BBO oper­ optimization, is chosen as the training algorithm.
ation on this non-dominated sorted population yields a new set of ‘N’
vectors. These new set of vectors with parent ‘N’ vectors are again sorted
and best N solutions are chosen. This is known as a single iteration. The 3.2. NSBBO for optimal process control
algorithm terminates when the number of iterations reaches the speci­
fied maximum iterations, resulting in non-dominated optimal values of Electrocoagulation of heavy metals should be operated at optimal
the five parameters. conditions to remove the metal ions in a most economical way, i.e., with
the highest ion removal efficiency and lowest energy consumption.
3. Modeling process These two objectives are conflicting in nature and call for constrained
multi-objective optimization. Therefore, in this work, a MATLAB (2021)
3.1. Process modelling using ANN function using ANN model as the input was written to create a fitness
function for the NSBBO optimization problem. The algorithm used is
Network Architecture: A neural model has been developed, where pH, presented in Fig. 4.
current density, inter-electrode distance, solution temperature, and Input ranges of five operational parameters i.e., initial pH (x1),
charging time serve as independent variables. On the other hand, current density (x2), inter-electrode distance (x3), solution temperature
removal efficiency and energy consumption are the dependent vari­ (x4) and charging time (x5) were placed as bounds on the SIVs of initial
ables. Five inputs (independent) and two outputs (dependent) with one habitat population. The parameters were set as given below.
hidden layer were chosen in MATLAB (2021). The number of hidden Population size 50
Maximum immigration rate (I) 1
neurons in the middle layer plays an important role in the performance
Maximum emigration rate (€)’ 1
of a network. The generalization property of ANN is negotiated when the Lower and upper bonds of immigration probability 0 and 1 respectively
number of hidden layer neurons are increased, but the training data set Elitism parameter 4
error is reduced. Comparing the R (regression coefficient) and MSE Mutation probability 0.2
Step size for numerical integration 1
(mean square error) values of the model for 5, 6 and 7 hidden nodes
Maximum no. of iterations 100
helped decide the optimum number. Finally, seven neurons have been No. of SIVs 5 (x1, x2, x3, x4, x5)
chosen in the hidden layer shown in Fig. 3 as Processing Elements (PE). X1 [range: 2–10]
Training the Network: The neural network architecture consists of X2 [range: 0.076–0.189]
input data (x1, x2, x3, x4, x5) and the target data (y1, y2). TANSIG, a X3 [range: 3–7]
X4 [range: 30–70]
hyperbolic tangent sigmoid transfer function, is used between the input
X5 [range: 5–25]
and hidden layer, whereas PURELIN, a linear transfer function, is used to
map the hidden and output layer. Transfer functions are used for

Fig. 3. Structure of the neural network used for modeling EC.

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A. Jain et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

Fig. 4. Proposed framework of ANN-NSBBO algorithm.

Fig. 5. Pareto-optimal set of solutions obtained from multi objective optimization of metals removal efficiency and energy consumption.

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A. Jain et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

The number of BBO iterations have been used as the criteria for
terminating the algorithm. The optimized ‘Pareto fronts’ for Cobalt,
Lead and Manganese are shown in Fig. 5. Each point on the Pareto set is
associated with a set of decision variables. Localized optimal operating
conditions for removal efficiency and energy consumption from Pareto
optimal fronts are achieved through the corresponding decision vari­
ables are shown in Tables S5–S7 of the Supplementary material. For
brevity, only 15 optimal solutions are represented in Table 3 for Cobalt,
and complete information is presented in the Supplementary material.
Pareto front points can aid the process operator in fixing the input
control variables so that the process operates at locally optimum points
with respect to removal efficiency and energy consumption.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. ANN weight distribution and model validation
The ANN model constructed from the experimental data correlated
fairly well (R lies between 0.989 and 0.999, and MSE lies between
0.00017 and 0.00077 for the 3 metals). For brevity, final weights ob­
tained through backpropagation algorithm using ANN model for Cobalt
are presented in Table 2. Tables S3–S4 of the Supplementary section
represent the final weights for Lead and Manganese. Positive weights
such as 0.201 and 0.953 (Table 2) between initial pH (x1) and removal
efficiency (y1) through first hidden neuron (PE) depicts that Cobalt’s
removal efficiency would change positively with change in initial pH’s
value via first Processing Element (PE). Negative weights like − 0.742
and − 0.806 (Table S3) between Lead’s removal efficiency and initial pH
via PE one depicts the opposite. Values of weights closer to zero between
node 1 to node 2 such as − 0.003 (Table S4) impedes the influence of
‘node 1’ over the final value from ‘node 2’ like in the case of fourth PE
and Manganese’s input bias node. Obtaining optimized weights gives a
trained ANN model, which acts as a fitness function for performing
multi-objective optimization in the next section.
Fig. 6 (a, b, and c) depicts correlation among experimental and
predicted removal efficiencies of test datasets for Cobalt, Lead and
Manganese metals respectively. The correlation coefficient for train and
test is almost ‘1’ for the metals which shows that ANN model compre­
hends the relation between input and output parameters.
4.2. Process optimization
A total of 100 iterations, each of which started with an initial pop­
ulation of 50, were conducted for the three metals separately. 47, 48 and
38 ‘rank 1’ solutions were obtained for Cobalt, Lead and Manganese
metals respectively. Each solution represents a distinct combination of
the five experimental parameters with corresponding removal efficiency
and energy consumption. Localized optimal operating conditions for
removal efficiency and energy consumption from Pareto optimal fronts
are achieved through the corresponding decision variables are shown in
Tables S5–S7 of the Supplementary material. For brevity, only 15
optimal solutions are represented in Table 3 for Cobalt, and complete
information is presented in the Supplementary material. Both maximum
Cobalt removal efficiency (98.66%) and minimum energy consumption
(0.015 kWh) are achieved at initial pH of 9.9 (Table 3). Table S5 depicts
that maximum (89.97%) and minimum (82.48%) Lead removal effi­
ciencies were achieved at the same pH but different solution tempera­
tures i.e. 30.62 ◦ C and 68.0 ◦ C respectively. Charging time greatly
influences the energy consumption giving maximum and minimum
values at 19.76 min and 5.19 min respectively, (Table S6). Removal
efficiency of Manganese reaching the value of 101% may result from
possible overfitting in the models.
Metal removal efficiency (Objective 1) is divided by Energy con­
sumption (Objective 2) to get removal efficiency per Watt-hour. Mini­
mum and maximum Cobalt removal efficiency per watt hour have been
obtained at current density 0.18 A/cm2 and 0.137 A/cm2 respectively at
same pH 9.91 (Table 3). It is seen that 95.48% of optimal solutions
obtained for removal of Cobalt occur at pH of 9.91. Maximum and
Minimum Lead removal efficiency per watt hour is obtained at solution
temperature 68.01 ◦ C and 30.62 ◦ C respectively (Table S5). These values
occur at same pH of 9.44, which is the case with 81.25% of all the op­
timum solutions obtained for Lead. For Manganese, maximum and
minimum removal efficiency per watt-hour is obtained at pH 7.33 and
7.64 respectively, at a current density of 0.085 A/cm2 (Table S6).
Manganese removal is found to be 70–75% more efficient at current
density of 0.085 A/cm2.
4.3. Prediction of the relationships among process parameters and metal
removal efficiencies
The dependency of metal removal efficiency on input parameters has
been visualized in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 (a) represents the variation of metal
removal efficiencies corresponding to changes in pH values (pareto-
optimal solutions). It can be observed that majority of pareto optimal
solutions for Cobalt and Lead were obtained in a moderately basic so­
lution with pH values around 9.5. In case of Manganese, optimal solu­
tions were observed in slightly basic solutions of pH 7.6 as well.
Interestingly, for Lead, optimal solutions were also found in highly
acidic solution of pH 2.9. Previous studies (both experimental and
simulated) have also found the process efficiency to be higher in basic
solutions, with the highest efficiency observed in neutral solutions with
pH 7 (Khosa et al., 2013; Un and Ocal, 2015). Past experimental study by
Kumarasinghe et al. (2009) has found that high metal removal efficiency
can be observed at extremely acidic and basic solutions, while lowest
metal removal efficiency is generally observed in slightly acidic solu­
tions around pH of 6. The pareto optimal solutions for Lead obtained at
much lower acidic range can be justified based on this study. In Fig. 7
(a), no Pareto optimal solutions are observed in acidic solutions around

Table 2
wt and bias in ANN network for Cobalt.
Input layer to hidden layer weights

Inputs x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 bias

PE1 0.201 − 0.574 − 0.163 − 0.840 − 0.861 − 3.244

PE2 − 0.310 0.326 − 1.372 1.517 − 0.165 0.158
PE3 − 0.606 − 2.112 − 1.364 0.429 − 2.017 1.874
PE4 0.322 0.543 0.695 − 1.908 − 1.485 0.386
PE5 0.659 1.045 − 0.834 1.868 − 1.185 1.004
PE6 − 0.820 − 1.357 − 0.682 − 0.906 0.624 − 1.776
PE7 − 1.351 − 0.203 0.115 − 0.453 − 0.416 − 2.091

Hidden layer to output layer weights

Outputs PE1 PE2 PE3 PE4 PE5 PE6 PE7 bias

y1 0.953 0.278 − 0.281 0.029 0.104 0.019 − 1.272 0.399

y2 0.099 0.599 − 0.676 − 0.330 − 0.368 − 0.314 0.699 1.032

8
A. Jain et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

Table 3
Process decision variables corresponding to the Pareto-Optimal Solutions of Cobalt.
S. Initial Current Density Inter-electrode Solution Temperature Charging Time Cobalt Removal Energy Removal Efficiency per
No. pH (A/cm2) distance (cm) (degree C) (min) Efficiency (%) Consumption (kWh) watt hour (%/Wh)

1 9.91 0.137 6.13 40.09 5.82 92.32 0.015 6.15

2 9.91 0.188 5.59 58.84 9.74 96.74 0.120 0.81
3 9.91 0.140 4.66 43.07 5.82 93.65 0.040 2.34
4 9.91 0.188 3.83 43.07 19.96 98.18 0.165 0.60
5 9.91 0.140 5.59 40.09 5.82 92.54 0.018 5.14
6 9.91 0.140 4.66 43.07 9.74 93.45 0.040 2.34
7 9.91 0.188 4.66 44.33 19.96 97.51 0.149 0.65
8 9.91 0.137 5.59 43.07 5.82 92.68 0.021 4.41
9 9.91 0.188 3.48 40.09 19.96 98.08 0.160 0.61
10 9.91 0.188 5.59 64.83 10.34 97.20 0.137 0.71
11 9.91 0.188 3.48 38.03 5.82 95.02 0.071 1.34
12 9.91 0.137 3.48 43.07 5.82 95.19 0.072 1.32
13 9.91 0.188 4.92 64.83 6.88 96.00 0.103 0.93
14 9.91 0.188 4.66 58.84 10.34 96.47 0.115 0.84
15 9.91 0.180 4.92 58.84 19.96 98.66 0.204 0.48

pH 5–6, which could be a consequence of greater metal solubility in
acidic condition, and difficulty in formation of metal hydroxide
(Kumarasinghe et al., 2009).
The amount of positive metal ion released from the electrode is
determined from the current supply to the electrocoagulation setup
(Chen, 2004). The relationship between current density and metal
removal efficiency for pareto optimal solutions of the three metals can
be visualized in Fig. 7 (b). The current density for optimal solutions of
Cobalt form two clusters: between current density ranges of 0.13–0.14
A/cm2, and 0.18–0.19 A/cm2. Though the removal efficiencies for
optimal solutions of Lead achieve a lower value than the optimal solu­
tions of Cobalt, the demand for current density in electrocoagulation of
Lead is aggregately higher than that of Cobalt, forming one dense cluster
between 0.16 and 0.19 A/cm2. The current density requirement for
optimal Manganese solutions is significantly lower than both Lead and
Cobalt, with the majority of values occurring between 0.08 and 0.09
A/cm2. Past studies (Mollah et al., 2004; Prasetyaningrum et al., 2019)
have found that heavy metal removal efficiency would not be enhanced
by increasing the current density above a certain optimum value as
adequate amount of metal hydroxide ions would already be available for
sedimentation of the heavy metal. This explains the concentration of
optimal values for current density within small ranges for all three
metals, which can be taken as the highest current density above which
no significant improvement in metal removal would be observed. As the
optimal solutions for all three metals are obtained around thick clusters
of current density values, it can be said that the metal removal efficiency
is highly sensitive to current density.
The consideration of inter-electrode distance is crucial to reactor
design in the removal of metals using electrocoagulation. Inter electrode
spacing becomes a significant parameter to address, especially when
operational cost optimization is desired (Bazrafshan et al., 2015). In
effluent with high conductivity at constant current density, greater
distance between electrode would Lead to lower energy consumption.
While, in effluent with low conductivity, a decreased spacing between
electrodes would minimize energy consumption (Bukhari, 2008). The
maximum metal removal efficiency is obtained at an optimal distance
between electrodes. The metal removal efficiency is low at minimum
electrode distance because of degradation of metal hydroxide floc due to
collision resulting from high electrostatic attraction. On increasing the
inter-electrode spacing, the metal removal efficiency increases till an
optimum distance, but decreases thereafter, due to a decrease in elec­
trostatic effect which Leads to slow movement of ions (Aoudj et al.,
2015). Fig. 7 (c) represents the relationship between inter-electrode
distance and heavy metal removal efficiency. As suggested by past
studies (Aoudj et al., 2015), the obtained optimal inter-electrode dis­
tance consists of a range of intermediate values. No optimal solutions are
obtained beyond this range, supporting the claim of low metal removal
efficiency at both extreme ends of inter-electrode distance. The optimal
range for Cobalt lies is 3.5–6.2 cm, while most optimal solutions for
inter-electrode distance in the Lead lie within a relatively compact range
of 3.5–4.5 cm. It is interesting to note that in case of Manganese, the
optimal solutions for inter-electrode spacing are distributed across a
wide-range, but the majority of solutions with higher removal efficiency
are concentrated between 3.2 and 3.6 cm. As per Fig. 7 (b), greater
inter-electrode distance in Manganese, beyond an optimal range, results
in significantly lower removal efficiency, an observation which is sup­
ported by past studies (Bazrafshan et al., 2015; Aoudj et al., 2015).
Based on the distribution of optimal solutions, it can be inferred that the
metal removal efficiency of Lead is most sensitive to inter-electrode
distance, followed by Manganese and Cobalt respectively.
The obtained optimal metal removal solutions corresponding to so­
lution temperature is plotted in Fig. 7 (d). Majority of optimal solutions
for Cobalt are observed between temperature range of 38◦ - 42 ◦ C. While
in the case of Lead, most solutions are clustered at a significantly higher
solution around 68 ◦ C, indicating greater sensitivity to temperature for
Lead removal efficiency as compared to Cobalt removal efficiency. The
lowest optimal temperature is observed for Manganese removal effi­
ciency with greatest number of solutions at 30 ◦ C, suggesting greatest
sensitivity to temperature. The effect of charging time on removal of
Cobalt, Lead, and Manganese is shown in Fig. 7 (e). Optimal charging
times for Cobalt removal efficiency are concentrated around 6 min, 10
min, and 20 min. While for Lead removal, majority of optimal charging
times are observed at 7 min, 14 min, and 20 min. In comparison,
Manganese forms only two dense clusters at charging times of 5 min and
20 min. Previous studies (Khosa et al., 2013; Massara et al., 2018) have
found a proportional relationship among charging time and achieved
metal removal efficiencies. The observations of the present study suggest
optimal charging time clusters. A plausible reason for presence of clus­
ters is the fact that the study optimizes electrocoagulation process for
multiobjective criteria of metal removal efficiency and energy con­
sumption. Since charging time would significantly impact energy con­
sumption, the obtained solutions are distributed in a way that ensures
minimum electricity consumption with maximized removal efficiency.
This observation may also help further studies understand the impact of
charging time on other multiobjective optimized electrocoagulation
processes.
4.4. Minimizing electricity consumption: towards green energy
This study attempts to optimize wastewater treatment through the
conflicting objectives of minimizing electricity consumption and maxi­
mizing heavy metal removal. Minimizing electricity consumption is
instrumental in reducing the operating cost of a treatment plant and
helps in optimizing the use of coal-based energy. Limiting industries’

9
A. Jain et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622

Fig. 6. Correlation diagram of experimental and predicted efficiency for (a) Cobalt, (b) Lead and (c) Manganese.

10
A. Jain et al.
Fig. 7. Predicted heavy metal removal efficiency with (a) pH (b) Current Density (A/cm2) (c) Inter Electrode distance (cm) (d) Solution Temperature (oC) (e)
Charging time (min).
dependence, such as wastewater treatment, on conventional coal-based
energy sources would require investment in research and development
incentivized by R&D tax reforms (Song et al., 2020). For instance, the
government of China has established ecological compensation (EC)
framework, which encourages local governments to provide incentives
aimed at controlling industrial air pollution (Cui et al., 2021). A recent
study by Huang et al. (2021) emphasizes moving beyond conventional
development parameters as GDP and towards the inclusion of green
innovation performance as a parameter for incentivizing development
benefits in developing countries like China. However, tax incentiviza­
tion alone does not affect carbon emissions. The impact of the carbon tax
in encouraging renewable energy sources depends on many factors. Guo
et al. (2021) demonstrated that CO2 emissions could be explained
mainly by innovation in environmental applications, income rates, and
the industrial engineering sector. The adoption of clean energy is ex­
pected to reduce the carbon and ecological footprint and aid in the
economic growth of countries that spend significantly on importing
fossil fuels (Ikram et al., 2021).
4.5. Sustainable development goals and policy recommendations
The economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has
significantly affected the many countries’ endeavors towards cost-
effectively achieving SDGs (Sharma et al., 2021). The outcomes of the
study would contribute significantly towards achieving sustainable
development goals (SDGs) of United Nations (UN), particularly SDGs 3,
6, 11, and 14 (good health and well-being, clean water and sanitation,
11
Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622
sustainable cities and communities, life below water respectively) (Kroll
et al., 2019). When consumed through surface water, heavy metals
accumulate in the human tissues and cause cancer, kidney malfunction,
cardiovascular diseases, and even death (Rahman et al., 2012). Maxi­
mization of heavy metal removal from the wastewater would result in
enhanced wastewater quality before it is discharged into the surface
water bodies (Copaja et al., 2014). The reduced pollutant loadings
would allow the waterbodies to perform their self-assimilative and
ecosystem functions through various aquatic species (Srinivas et al.,
2017).
Consequently, the water would be fit for consumption for beneficial
usages such as drinking, agriculture, and industry. Aquatics consume
microorganisms, lessen BOD and coliform levels, regulate the trophic
structure, and help in the mineralization of phosphorous and nitrogen,
thus contributing to the stability of riverine ecosystems. The presence of
heavy metals above prescribed limits would cause stress to aquatics by
interfering with these functions. Thus, it is imperative to devise strate­
gies to ensure enhanced treatment of heavy metals to protect the
aquatics. By utilizing the results of this study, aquatic health and surface
water quality can be maintained, which are instrumental in achieving
SDG 3, 6, and 14. On the other hand, minimizing energy consumption in
wastewater treatment would allow governmental bodies to economi­
cally achieve the desired water quality with more minor environmental
impacts. This study would guide the policymakers in devising energy
management alternatives to minimize energy consumption and avoid
energy demands in large-scale treatment processes. Preservation of en­
ergy would be pivotal in achieving the SGD 11 (Ghoneim et al., 2016;
A. Jain et al.
Azimi and Rocher, 2017).
The results alert the governmental authorities to formulate and adopt
strict policies for admirable wastewater management and treatment
infrastructure that can minimize environmental pollution and related
health hazards to humans and aquatics. The study’s outcomes provide a
simple tool for policymakers to simultaneously optimize the removal of
heavy metals and minimize the energy consumption in wastewater
treatment using ANN-NSBBO framework. Based on the results, the
government can frame policies and regulations to ensure optimized
operating conditions of the process parameters in industrial wastewater
(Maurya et al., 2021). Also, the operators of the effluent treatment plants
(ETPs) can be guided to adjust the process parameters based on out­
comes of ANN-NSBBO model. In addition, policymakers could also
regulate the supply and usage of electricity to ensure minimum con­
sumption depending on the characteristics of the wastewater required to
be treated. Many states across the globe have a fixed capacity of ETPs.
The overwhelming pollutant loadings result in untreated or partially
treated wastewater being discharged into the water bodies. The out­
comes of this study would enable the policymakers to have exact esti­
mates of metal removal efficiencies and energy consumption under the
best operating conditions for each ETP for a given treatment capacity.
The energy consumption optimization paths can be devised at different
levels (cost, process, and equipment). This information would be crucial
for enforcing industry regulations towards the discharge of heavy metal
concentrations. Although the proposed framework is suggested for
enhancing the optimizing the electrocoating process for enhanced
treatment, the policymakers can replicate the same approach for any
other wastewater treatment technologies (such as biofilm reactors, ion
exchange, electrochemical deposition, etc.) and consequently, policies
can be framed for optimized operating conditions for other treatment
plants.
In the last two decades, developing countries have put tremendous
efforts towards emerging efficient technologies for treating heavy metal-
contained wastewater. For example, the discharge amount of Hg, Cd, Cr
(VI), Pb, and As in China has decreased by 75.0%, 67.5%, 12.4%, 68.3%
and 64.1%, respectively from 2001 to 2011 (TSCIO PRC, 2006; MEP
PRC, 2011). Almost 50% of China’s heavy metal discharge standards
have been revised and the amount of metals (Mn, Zn, Ni, Fe, Pb, Cu and
Cd) discharged has been decreased by 46.73–77.97% from 2011 to 2015
due to due to implementation of Comprehensive Prevention and Control
of Heavy Metal Pollution (CPCHMP) (Wang and Chen, 2015). This is
primarily due to the adoption of advanced treatment technologies such
as ion exchange, phytoremediation, membrane and nano-technology,
two-stage oxidation, etc. (MEEPRC, 2018; Li et al., 2022). In India, the
government has revised the prescribed standards for heavy metals and
improved monitoring techniques to enhance the water quality of rivers
(Hussain and Rao, 2018). Also, in last decade, India has been investing
in usage of advanced treatment technologies such as photocatalysis,
ozonation, biological therapies (bioaccumulation and biosorption)
while ensuring optimized conditions for process parameters (pH, tem­
perature, ionic strength, contact time, etc.) (Singh et al., 2021).
5. Conclusions
This study proposes a novel framework to assist the industries and
researchers in optimizing the economic resources while achieving the
desired degree of wastewater treatment through the removal of heavy
metals. The ANN-NSBBO algorithm developed in the study effectively
models the electrocoagulation process, and optimizes conflicting ob­
jectives, namely heavy metal removal and electrical energy consumed.
Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models the process parameters of
electrocoagulation based on procured experimental data. The weights
obtained after the ANN model training help define the cause-effect
relationship among experimental input parameters (Initial pH, Current
Density, Inter-electrode distance, Solution Temperature, Charging
Time) and output parameters (Percentage of heavy metal removed,
12
Journal of Cleaner Production 338 (2022) 130622
Energy consumption). The relationship obtained from ANN model
serves as input objective function to biogeography-based optimization
(BBO). A sample population generated by BBO is tested for fitness on the
objective function derived from ANN. The resulting population is sorted
into pareto optimal fronts by non-dominated sorting. Representing a
distinct set of input parameters, each solution in the obtained pareto
optimal front is an optimal solution for achieving the contradictory
multiobjective aims of maximizing percentage of heavy metal removed
and minimizing electricity consumption. Maximum removal efficiency
observed were 98.66%, 89.87%, and 98.22% for Cobalt, Lead, and
Manganese, respectively. The highest removal efficiency achieved per
watt-hour of electricity consumed for Cobalt, Lead, and Manganese were
6.15, 5.99, and 5.32 respectively, obtained at metal removal efficiencies
of 92.32%, 83.85%, and 79.80%, respectively. This demonstrates that
satisfactory high values of metal removal efficiency can be achieved at
significantly lower electricity consumption levels.
The relationship between process parameters and metal removal
efficiency was analyzed by employing cluster plots. For all three metals,
most optimal solutions for electrocoagulation were obtained in basic
solutions. The removal efficiency for all three metals were found to be
highly sensitive to charging density and charging time. An intermediate
range of inter electrode spacing was obtained for optimal removal effi­
ciency of all metals. Clustering of charging time in optimal solutions
proves the consideration of multiobjective optimization undertaken in
this study. Based on the degree of wastewater treatment desired,
wastewater utility, and available economic resources, the proposed
framework would help industry managers to achieve the best possible
removal efficiency at minimized costs. The study would also help
manage limited resources for wastewater treatment in low population
and remote areas, where electrocoagulation is a better alternative to
advanced wastewater treatment techniques that are not sustainable.
Overall, the study would guide the policymakers in framing policies
concerning (i) estimates of metal removal efficiencies and energy con­
sumption under best-operating conditions for each ETPs with different
capacities, (ii) optimization pathways at different levels (cost, process,
and equipment) to ensure minimum energy consumption, and (iii)
enforcing industrial regulations on heavy metal discharge.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Ananya Jain: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Data
curation, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Investigation. Saumitra
Rai: Writing – original draft, Visualization, Investigation, Validation,
Writing – review & editing. Rallapalli Srinivas: Conceptualization,
Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision,
Visualization. Riyadh I. Al-Raoush: Writing – review & editing,
Conceptualization, Investigation.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Birla Institute of Technology and Science,
Pilani, India, for providing the necessary facilities to carry out this
research work. The authors are also thankful to Prof. Chigozie Francolins
Uzoh, Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe Univer­
sity, Awka, Anambra, Nigeria, for providing us required data. The ref­
erences cited in the text have provided an in-depth understanding of this
research work and are greatly acknowledged. We also express our
gratitude to anonymous reviewers and editors for their comments and
time.
A. Jain et al.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130622.
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