Abstract
The safety of the global environment and the setting up of a sustainable source of clean water is a necessity for human survival. However, due to man’s anthropogenic activities, large quantities of sulphate ions are discharged daily into the environment and municipal wastewater networks which poses threat to the municipal infrastructure and human lives. This work was carried out to determine the feasibility of sulphate ion removal by electrocoagulation using recycled corrugated iron sheets as sacrificial electrodes. The metal hydroxides that that were produced during the electrocoagulation process were also applied as adsorbents for sulphates. The parameters such as the pH, contact time, applied voltage and initial concentration of sulphate were optimised to find the best efficient working condition for the removal of sulphate in both synthetic water and real wastewater. Under optimal conditions, when the recycled corrugated iron was applied, the energy consumption was found to be within the range of 0.02588 to 0.1725 kWh/m3 at 15 V, which is within the acceptable electrocoagulation range (0.002 to 58 kWh/m3). Less energy consumption confirmed that the electrocoagulation process is best fit for municipal wastewater treatment...
M.Sc. (Chemistry)