Abstract

The use of conventional direct current-electrocoagulation (DC-EC) in wastewater treatment is limited by its drawbacks, which include electrode passivation, high energy consumption, and significant sludge production. Therefore, to address these issues, alternating current-electrocoagulation (AC-EC) has been developed. This research aimed to compare the efficacy of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and electrochemical including ozone (O-3), DC-EC, AC-EC, and O-3-direct/alternating current-electrocoagulation (O-3-DC/AC-EC) processes, with regard to the elimination of color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (%) from distillery industrial wastewater (DIW). Additionally, the study assessed the usage electrical energy (UEE) associated with each process. The results of the experiments indicate that the hybrid O-3-AC-EC process achieved complete color-100% and COD-100% removal efficiencies while using less electrical energy-4.90 kWhr m(-3)-than single processes like O-3, DC-EC, AC-EC, and hybrid O-3-DC-EC. Using a hybrid O-3-AC-EC method, the effects of important operational factors on COD removal efficiency (%) and UEE of DIW were examined. These parameters were COD, pH, treatment duration, distance between electrodes, concentration of O-3, current density, electrode pairing, and pulse duty cycle. This work also investigated and reported on the synergistic effect of the O-3 and AC-EC processes, as well as kinetic investigations of the O-3-AC-EC technique. The O-3-AC-EC approach efficiently and effectively removes contaminants from wastewater, making it the most suitable process when compared to the others.