Effect of different set of electrodes for degradation of distillery spent wash promoted by electrocoagulation

One of the most polluting industries in the world is the distillery industry, which produces strong distillery wastewater that has an adverse impact on the environment since it contains high organic matter. Various combinations of electrodes are used in the electrocoagulation process to examine operational variables such as total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), and turbidity from the distillery spent wash. With a constant pH of 7, an agitation speed of 500 RPM, and optimizing the operating parameters, viz., varying the electrode distance (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 cm), voltage (5-25 volts) current density of 1.5 A/cm(2), and electrolysis time (30-150 min). Aluminium (Al) electrodes were observed to perform slightly better than iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) electrodes, with punched Al electrodes outperforming plane Al electrodes. The highest removal efficiencies were achieved with punched Al electrodes in an optimized condition of voltage of 25 volts, electrode distance of 2 cm, and electrolysis time of 150 min, with removal efficiencies of 91% for TDS, 92% for EC, and 92% for turbidity. This study highlights the potential of electrocoagulation with optimized parameters for improving the purification of distillery spent wash and enhancing the removal of TDS, EC, and turbidity.