Electrochemical oxidation of the poultry manure anaerobic digested effluents for enhancing pollutants removal by Chlorella vulgaris

ABSTRACT

The mechanisms and pseudo-kinetics of the electrochemical oxidation for wastewater treatment and the synergistic effect of combining algal biological treatment were investigated. NaCl, Na₂SO₄ and HCl were applied to compare the effect of electrolyte species on nutrients removal. NaCl was proved to be more efficient in removing ammonia (), total phosphorus (TP), total organic carbon (TOC) and inorganic carbon (IC). oxidation by using Ti/Pt–IrO₂ electrodes was modelled, which indicates that the removal followed the zero-order kinetic with sufficient Cl⁻ and the first-order kinetic with insufficient Cl⁻, respectively. The feasibility of combining electrochemical oxidation with microalgae cultivation for wastewater treatment was also determined. A 2 h electrochemical pretreatment reduced 57% , 76% TP, 72% TOC and 77% IC from the digested effluent, which is applied as feedstock for algae cultivation, and resulted in increasing both the biomass production and pollutants removal efficiencies of the algal biological process.

KEYWORDS:

• Electrochemical oxidation
• anaerobic digested effluents
• electrolyte
• ammonia removal pseudo-kinetics
• Chlorella vulgaris

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund under [grant: 2012QJ153]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under [grant: 21106179]; and the High-end Foreign Experts Cultivation Project under [grant: 2012z021].