Studies on treatment of egg processing industry wastewater using electrocoagulation method: optimization using response surface methodology

Abstract

The present research analyzes the recovery of protein from egg industry wastewater using electrocoagulation technique under different operating conditions such as current density, initial pH, feed flow rate, and electrode distance. Initial pH value of 6, current density of 25 mA/cm², electrode distance of 4.5 cm, and feed flow rate of 60 ml/min were found to be optimal for the maximum protein recovery (89%) with electrical energy consumption of 7.5 kWh/m³. A Box–Behnken response surface design has been used to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of process conditions on the protein recovery. Recovered protein was analyzed to determine the digestibility of protein and its characteristics were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Keywords:

• Egg wastewater
• Electrocoagulation
• Mathematical modeling
• Protein recovery
• FT-IR

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by King Saud University, Deanship of Scientific Research, College of Sciences Research Center.