The application of electrocoagulation process of metal ions (Cu2+ AND Cr6+) in waste water

Abstract

Textile industry is one of the industries which produce a lot of wastewater from their process. The heavy metal contained in it cannot be separated by simple treatment. On this research, electrocoagulation method was applied to separate Cu2+ and Cr6+ from the artificial waste water then followed by validation using actual textile waste water from one of the textile industry in Bandung. The aim of this research is to observe the reduction percentage of heavy metals and turbidity in textile waste water by electrocoagulation method in a simple system. Electrocoagulation is a combination process between electrolysis and coagulation. This research was conducted using three variables. There are (1) electrode combination (Al-Al and Al-Fe); (2) operation time (20 and 30 minutes) and (3) initial pH value (5 and 8). In the electrolysis process, the electric current is introduced into the waste stream. It is generated by two electrodes assembly in the waste water tank. The result shows that electrocoagulation process works effectively for Cu2+ and Cr6+ removal at electrode combination Fe-Al and operation time 20 minutes. In general the higher reduction percentage of Cu2+ ( 100 %) and Cr6+ (30%) occurred in high pH value (8). The validation process using a wastewater from textile industry showed the same results. Analytical method using turbidity meter shows the removal turbidity level percentage at pH 5 and pH 8 are 39.8% and 54.5% consecutively.