Experimental Study and Modeling by the Complete Factorial Plan of the Elimination of Textile Dye by Electrocoagulation Using Aluminum from Recycled Cans

This study aims to apply the electrocoagulation (EC) process to eliminate a textile dye, in the case of Azucryl red (AR) using aluminum electrodes from recycled cans to obtain a perfect and economic elimination of the dye. The parameters followed in this electrocoagulation study are the initial pH, the distance between the electrodes, the intensity of the current, the salinity, and the initial concentration of the dye. We tested the effects of two types of electrodes: Aluminum in cans (recycled) and non-recycled aluminum. The results obtained for recycled aluminum electrodes made it possible to get discoloration rates of up to 99,76%, for an initial pH equal to 8 in a distance of 1 cm, an electrolysis time corresponding to 35 minutes, an imposed current of 0,25 A, a quantity of NaCl of 1 g/L, and 94,16% for non-recycled aluminum at t = 60 min. Modelization by the plan of experiments was carried out, and the models obtained by the complete factorial plan represent the experimental results well. According to the costs of treatment by electrocoagulation, we can consider that for intensity of 0,25 A (optimal intensity), the cost of treatment is 3,52.10-3 DZD (2,4.10-5 $) /L of water treated for electrodes made of non-recycled aluminum, and 6,63.10-4 DZD (4,4.10-6 $) /L of treated water for electrodes in cans.