Treatment of lixiviate from Jebel Chakir-Tunis by electrocoagulation

The removal of organic pollutants fromlixiviate was experimentally studied using direct current electrocoagulation (EC) with aluminum electrodes. The effects of operating parameters such as current density, initial pH and electrolysis time were further studied in order to optimize conditions for the treatment of lixiviate. Two different electrode connections (monopolar and bipolar) were examined for choosing the best alternative in order to intensify the performance of the process. It was observed that high removal capacity was better for monopolar connection than for bipolar connection. The subsequence of EC tests performed with Al electrodes showed that optimal operating conditions are an initial pH of 6; a current density 15 A cm-2 and EC time of 90 min. Treatment reduces chemical oxygen demand (COD) to 94%. The color removal efficiency reached 96%. Cost estimation was adopted and presented as well. Total operating costs for monopolar connection was evaluated at about 43.315 US$ m-3 for the optimal operating conditions. These findingsmight be useful in order to treat lixiviate contaminated groundwater, rivers and grounds.