Electrochemical Degradation of Textile Effluent Using PbO2 Electrode in Tube Electrolyzer

A commercial PbO2 mesh cylinder electrode was utilized as the anode for the electrochemical degradation of the textile effluent after the biological treatment with the titanium cylinder as the cathode in a self-made tube electrolyzer. The electrochemical performances of the PbO2 electrode in tube electrolyzer under different initial pH, electrolyte flow rates, current densities and times of the electrochemical degradation were investigated. The experimental results illustrated that the PbO electrode can reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the textile effluent from 94.0 mg L-1 to 65.0 mg L-1 with the current efficiency of 88.3%, the energy consumption of 27.7 kWh kg (per kilogram of degraded COD) and the carbon emissions of 18.0 kg CO2 kg (per kilogram of degraded COD) under the optimal operating conditions. In addition, the COD of the textile effluent could be reduced from 94.0 mg L-1 to 22.0 mg L-1 after the fifth electrochemical degradation. Therefore, PbO2 mesh cylinder electrode in the tube cylinder was promising for the electrochemical degradation of the textile effluent.