Evaluation of electrocoagulation in the post-treatment of anaerobic wastewater of slaughterhouse and packing plant

  • Flavia Manente da Silva Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e Ambientais. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85884-000, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Fábio Orssatto Departamento Acadêmico de Ciências Ambientais e Biológicas. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias Ambientais. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85884-000, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Eduardo Eyng Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e Ambientais. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85884-000, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Laercio Mantovani Frare Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e Ambientais. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85884-000, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Ilton José Baraldi Departamento Acadêmico de Alimentos. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Campus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85884-000, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Leandro Fleck Curso Superior de Tecnologia em Gestão Ambiental. Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), BR 163, km 20,2, CEP: 79980-000, Mundo Novo, MS, Brazil.

Abstract

The demand for food production brings with it the increase of effluent generation, which represents a great problem for slaughterhouses, since effluents contain higher organic load, requiring adequate treatment to decrease environmental impacts. This study examines an alternative to solve this problem: the application of electrocoagulation in the treatment of anaerobic slaughterhouse and packing plant effluents, as this promising technique is both compact and robust. The removal of color, COD and turbidity was analyzed, and the operational cost was calculated. To optimize the process, the CCRD (central composite rotatable design) methodology was used with two independent variables: electric current density and electrolysis time, obtaining a complete factorial of 2² with 4 axial points and 4 repetitions at the central point. The most expressive removals were: 87%, 80% and 76% for color, COD and turbidity, respectively, the lower operational cost obtained was 0.12 US$.m-3. The statistical analysis allowed obtaining valid mathematical models for color removal and cost and, through the analysis of desirability, it was found that for current density of 8 mA.cm-2 and time of 20 minutes it is possible to maximize color removal (84%) and minimize the cost (0.21 US$.m-3).

Keywords: color, cost, COD, turbidity.


Published
06/10/2021
Section
Papers