Electrochemical Pretreatment of Wastewater from Bulk Drug Manufacturing Industry

The present study involves the treatment of high strength Bulk Drug Industry Wastewater by electrochemical method. The treatability studies were carried out with four different electrodes made of mild steel, aluminum, carbon, and stainless steel. The treatment efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD)/biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), color, and heavy metal removals were assessed at different electrolysis time. A comparative study for heavy metal removal between chemical precipitation using aluminum and electrocoagulation with aluminum electrode has shown electrocoagulation to be more effective. Carbon electrode has shown COD removal of 34.0% and high BOD(5f)/COD(f) ratio of 0.581 at 120-min exposure time. Among all electrodes, aluminum was found as the most efficient in removal of color, suspended solids, and heavy metals with the least energy consumption of 95.83 Wh kg(-1) COD(r) and anode efficiency of 5.76 kg COD A(-1) m(-2) h(-1). After electrochemical treatment, certain increase in BOD/COD ratio attributed to increase in biodegradability of wastewater. The study reveals that the wastewater could be effectively pretreated by electrochemical method.