Modeling of by-product recovery and performance evaluation of Electro-Fenton treatment technique to treat poultry wastewater

The aim of this study was to investigate and optimize the operating parameters in Electro-Fenton (EF) treatment process such as initial pH, current density, H2O2 dose and treatment time on the removal of turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from poultry processing industry wastewater. Response surface methodology (RSM) coupled with Box-Behnken response surface design (BBD) was employed and significant quadratic polynomial models were developed with high coefficient determination values (R2). Operating cost of EF process was also determined in optimum conditions. Optimum operating conditions were determined using numerical optimization method and found to be; initial pH of 3, current density of 10 mA cm−2, H2O2 dose of 20 ml/l and electrolysis time of 30 min. Under these conditions, 93% of turbidity and 97% of COD were reduced with 0.009 kW h/l of electrical energy consumption (EEC). The sludge recoverd indicated that presence of higher amount of protein.