Electrochemical oxidation of an azo dye in aqueous media investigation of operational parameters and kinetics

In this research two types of electrochemical reactors for the treatment of simulated wastewaters containing Direct blue 71 azo dye (DB71) were used: (1) Laboratory scale undivided electrolysis cell system (450 mL volume) with one 2 cm × 2 cm platinum plate as the anode placed in the middle of the cell and two 2 cm × 8 cm steel plates (SS-304) as cathodes placed in the sides of the cell 2 cm from the central anode. (2) Pilot scale reactor (9 L volume), equipped with two 3 cm × 23 cm stainless steel plates as anode and cathode, with distance of 3 cm apart. The influence of supporting electrolyte, applied voltage and pH were studied. The UV-vis spectra of samples during the electrochemical oxidation showed the rapid decolorization of the dye solution. During the process, the COD and current were measured in order to evaluate the degree of mineralization, energy consumption, current and anode efficiencies. The optimum supporting electrolyte and applied voltage were NaCl (5 g L−1) and 15 V. Using the lab scale reactor resulted in complete decolorization and mineralization of the dye solutions after ca. 90 and 120 min, respectively. Similar results were obtained using the pilot plant reactor under the same conditions. The good fit of the data to pseudo-first-order kinetics for COD removal at all applied voltages (except 20 V) was taken as proof of the involvement of indirect oxidation pathways in the process.