Indirect electrochemical oxidation of phenol in the presence of chloride for wastewater treatment

Electrochemical oxidation of phenol using a Ti/TiO2-RuO2-IrO2 anode in the presence of chloride as the supporting electrolyte was investigated. The experiments were performed in an undivided batch reactor. Preliminary investigations showed that only a small fraction of phenol was oxidized by direct electrolysis, while complete degradation of phenol was achieved by indirect electrochemical oxidation using chloride as a supporting electrolyte. The effect of operating parameters such as initial pH, supporting electrolyte concentration, phenol concentration, and charge input was studied using Box-Behnken second order composite experimental design. The effect of current density on COD removal was studied separately. TOC removal and AOX formation were studied for selected conditions. It was found that the formation of chlorinated organic compounds was pronounced at the beginning of electrolysis, but it was reduced to lower levels by extended electrolysis.