Optimizing decolorization of methylene blue dye by electrocoagulation using Taguchi approach

Abstract

In this study, the removal of methylene blue (MB) using electrocoagulation (EC) process has been investigated. Taguchi method was applied to determine the optimum MB removal from aqueous solution by EC using iron electrodes. An orthogonal array, L₉ (3³), experimental design that allows to investigate the simultaneous variations of three controlling factors, namely: current density (A), initial pH (B), and reaction time (C), having three levels was employed to evaluate the effects of experimental parameters. A statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to see whether the process parameters were statistically significant or not. According to the F-test results, it can be concluded that the degrees of the influences of parameters on the decolorization efficiency are reaction time, initial pH of the solution, and current density. The optimum conditions were found as the third level of current density (150 mA/cm²), second level of pH (6.5), and third level of treatment time (20 min). Under these conditions, DE was predicted as 96.3% which was within the range of confidence limit of the observed value of 95.5%.

Keywords:

• Methylene blue
• Decolorization
• Electrocoagulation
• Optimization Taguchi method

Notes

Presented at the Conference on Desalination for the Environment: Clean Water and Energy 11–15 May 2014, Limassol, Cyprus