Removal of Remazol Black B dye using recirculation batch electrocoagulation

Textile industry wastewater mainly contains high concentration of organic matter including the active dye of Remazol Black B. This wastewater effluent needs to be properly treated before discharge into water bodies. Electrocoagulation is one of physico-chemical methods that can be used as an alternative of wastewater treatment in the textile industries because it has a good efficiency in removing colour. A wide range of pH measured in the textile industry wastewater (i.e., 3.9-14) may affect the effectiveness of electrocoagulation process. Other factors that affect electrocoagulation process were current intensity and wastewater flow. This study aims to determine the optimum of electrocoagulation process in the recirculation batch method using recirculation batch reactor. The applied current tested were 10 A, 15 A and 20 A, with flow rate of 2 L/min, 3 L/min, and 4 L/min. A synthetic textile wastewater was prepared with a Remazol Black B dye colour concentration of 10 ppm, 3 g/L of NaCl, and pH of 11. The parameters tested periodically in this study were pH, TDS and removal of colour and COD. Result of this study showed that by increasing the electric current strength and decreasing the flowrate, efficiency of pollutants removal was increased. Highest removal percentage of COD and colour were 100% and 88,78%% with current strength of 20 A, and flow rate of 2 L/min, the final pH was 11,4, whereas total dissolved solid fluctuated (i.e., 1785 mg/L- 1902 mg/L).