A study on the degradation of synthetic dyes using tubular electrochemical reactor Sudeep B, K. Senthilkumar, P. Sourav, V.P. Kamalkannan, T. Santhoshini Priya, et al. Desalination and Water Treatment, 2022 The aim of the research is to investigate the degradation of synthetic dyes, which are widely uti- lized in numerous textile sectors. In this study, we used electrochemical oxidation as the primary method for dye degradation, with a mixed metal oxide anode and a stainless-steel cathode. Three different dyes were used to evaluate the degradation: methylene blue, brilliant green, and fast sulphon black F. The supporting electrolyte for the experiment was sodium chloride, and the tests were conducted for 10 min while adjusting the synthetic effluent flow rate (30, 90, 120 LPM), supporting electrolyte concentration (1, 3, 5 g/L), and current density (0.32, 0.81, 1.59 A/dm 2 ). The maximum color removal (95%) elimination using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer at 10 min of operation time, was seen for all dyes at 1.59 A/dm 2 , 5 g/L, and 90 LPM. In the dye degradation kinetics, the hydroxyl radical plays an important role. The synthetic dye degradation rate constant ( k h ) was determined to be 0.49 × 10 –2 cm/s, and the half-life period h 1/2 was found to be 1.41603 min –1 . As a result, the suggested study was highly effective in degrading synthetic dyes in a shorter period of time with lower current density value.
A study on novel coupled membrane bioreactor with electro oxidation for biofouling reduction Kamalakannan Vasanthapalaniappan, Kavitha Palani, Shanmuga Sundar Saravanabhavan, Narendranath Jonna, Maharaja Pounsamy, et al. Environmental Engineering Research, 2021 The present study focuses on a novel method to integrate the electro-oxidation process with membrane bioreactor to reduce biofouling and increase the biodegradability index. Here, we used electro-oxidation as pretreatment with membrane bioreactor operating at a current density of 1.5 mA/cm2 with hydraulic retention time at six h. The mixed liquor suspended solids concentration was maintained constant at 3,200 mg/L throughout the experiment for 30 days. The results obtained were promising with the percentage removal of COD, TOC, total nitrogen, and chlorides were in the range of 97%, 90%, 94%, and 15%, respectively, which was comparatively higher than the existing membrane bioreactor. The biodegradable index of treated water was higher, reaching a maximum of 0.6, which is remarkably high compared with 0.3 in a membrane bioreactor. The integrated electro-oxidation process was efficient for the complete removal of pollutants from wastewater, which was confirmed using gas chromatography. In addition, the phytotoxicity test showed a significantly higher quality of treated water compared with that of raw tannery effluent. Hence, our proposed integrated electro-oxidation process can be used to decrease biofouling with increased biodegradability index as a replacement for MBR.
Kinetic and residence time distribution modeling of tubular electrochemical reactor: Analysis of results using Taguchi method R. Mythilishri, V. P. Kamalakannan, R. Saravanathamizhan, N. Balasubramanian Water Practice and Technology, 2021 Decolorization of dye waste water is performed using a tubular electrochemical reactor. Stainless steel and oxide coated on titanium mesh acts as the cathode and anode respectively. Experiments were conducted in batch with recirculation mode. The effect of operating parameters such as current density, initial dye concentration, flow rate and supporting electrolyte concentration on decolorization of Acid red dye has been studied and the results were analysed using Taguchi method. A residence time distribution (RTD) study has been conducted in a tubular electrochemical reactor and an axial dispersion model has been developed to determine percentage decolorization. The model results are compared with experimental results and it was found that the model satisfactorily matches with the experimental results with high correlation coefficient.
α-Fe2O3/reduced graphene oxide nanorod as efficient photocatalyst for methylene blue degradation A. Muthukrishnaraj, S. Vadivel, V. P. Kamalakannan, N. Balasubramanian Materials Research Innovations, 2015 A series of α-Fe2O3/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanorod composites were successfully synthesised using a simple solvothermal process. The synthesised α-Fe2O3/RGO (FG) products were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The photocatalytic ability of the prepared FG composites was evaluated, by the demineralisation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The synthesised FG composites show higher degradation efficiency under visible light irradiation with improved photocatalytic performance than the pure α-Fe2O3 nanorod and degusa P25. The demineralisation of the dyes was visualised by a UV-visible spectroscopy, by decrease in the intensity of absorbance and concentration. The degradation efficiency of the FG1 composite towards MB was found to be 97%.
