Industrial-scale application of the plunger flow electro-oxidation reactor in wastewater depth treatment.

Effluents after biochemical treatment contain pollutants that are mostly non-degradable. Based upon previous pilot-scale test results, an industrial-scale electro-oxidation device was built to decompose these refractory materials in the effluent from a park wastewater treatment plant. The electro-oxidation device comprised a ditch-shaped plunger flow electrolysis cell, with mesh-plate Ti/PbO2 electrodes as the anode and the same size mesh-plate Ti as the cathode. Wastewater flowed vertically through electrodes; the effective volume of the cell was 2.8 m(3), and the surface-to-volume ratio was 17.14 m(2) m(-3). The optimal current density was 100 A m(-2), and a suitable flow velocity was 14.0 m h(-1). The removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand and color in the effluent were over 60.0 and 84.0 %, respectively. In addition, the electro-oxidation system offered a good disinfection capability. The specific energy consumption for this industrial-scale device was 43.5 kWh kg COD(-1), with a current efficiency of 32.8 %, which was superior to the pilot-scale one. To meet the requirements for emission or reuse, the operation cost was $0.44 per ton of effluent at an average price for electricity of $0.11 kWh(-1).