The synergistic effect of electrocoagulation coupled with E-peroxone process for shale gas fracturing flowback water treatment

Electrocoagulation (EC) coupled with E-peroxone process (ECP) was a promising and cost-effective integrated technology for shale gas fracturing flowback water (SGFFW) treatment. In this study, the ECP process was comprehensively compared with two sequential processes (EC followed by E-peroxone (E-CE-peroxone) and E-peroxone followed by EC (E-peroxone-EC)) to elucidate the synergistic effect of this coupled process. In EC-E-peroxone process, COD decreased by 89.2%, while COD decreased by 82.5% for 180 min in E-peroxone-EC process. However, COD removal efficiency was 82.4% in ECP for only 90 min. Average current efficiency of the ECP process was 29.9%, which was twice than that of the sequential processes. The enhancement factor was calculated to be 1.63, demonstrating the substantial significant synergistic effects for ECP. Only low MW components could be observed for the EC-E-peroxone (average MW = 533 Da with PD approximate to 1) and ECP process (MW = 538 Da with PD approximate to 1). These results suggested that EC-E-peroxone and ECP process had much stronger oxidation ability, demonstrating the enhancement of center dot OH production induced by the Al-based coagulants might be responsible for the significant enhancement of COD removal. These results indicated there could be a synergistic effect between EC and ozone in addition to EC and E-peroxone reactions. Compared to the two sequential processes, ECP was a high efficiency and space-saving electrochemical system with simultaneous coagulation and enhanced center dot OH generation by the products of anode and the cathode. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that the combination of electrocoagulation with E-peroxone process is a promising and cost-effective integrated technology for the treatment of shale gas fracturing flowback water. The synergistic effect between the two processes significantly enhances COD removal efficiency, showing potential engineering application prospects.