Treatment of Methylene Blue water solution by submerged pulse arc in multi-electrode reactor

Pulsed submerged arc (SA) treatment of aqueous methylene blue (MB) solutions was studied in the reactor with multiple mobile iron (Fe) based electrodes. The discharges were carried out between these electrodes, which are repetitively brought into collision contact with fixed electrodes, connected to the power supply. The new reactor allows electrical discharges and MB decomposition in a large (600 ml) volume of liquid. The effects of alternating filtration, electrode type, arcing energy, vibration, aging of the solutions after arcing and the added H2O2 concentration on MB decomposition were studied. The ratio between the number of milliliters of the treated solution that reached complete removal of MB to the time required for this is greater by factor of 7.5 than this ratio for two electrode system obtained for the same SA conditions. The treatment efficiency in multi electrode reactor is explained by the numerous collisions of multiple electrodes leading to the formation of eroded nano-particles with the surface catalytically active towards MB oxidation.