Tertiary treatment of waste water by Electro-Fenton process: Economical study

Wastewater treatment and clean drinking water supplies are now a major concern. Among the most recent advances in wastewater treatment, electrochemical process provides a solution by treating successfully the considered polluted water. This study focuses on application of electro-Fenton (EF) to treat polluted water of Tataouine-Tunisia sewage treatment plant. The EF process is related to the generation of hydroxyl radicals (OH°) which are able to oxide any organic or organ metallic pollutants to the ultimate stages of oxidation. The application of EF process for treatment of the effluent allows abatement rates of the chemical oxidation demand (COD) and biochemical oxidation demand after five days (BOD5) reach, 75% and 52%, respectively after 180min with complete degradation of germs. The economical study shows that, for 1m
³
of aqueous solution and after treatment time of 180 min, the energy consumed for 1kg of COD removal is esteemed to 2.25 KWh then the treatment cost is estimated to 17.331€/m
³
. The anode surface and the reactor cost are estimated to 0.9m
²
and 19518€ for 1m
³
/d flow, respectively.