Removal of Eriochrome Black textile dye from aqueous solution by combined electrocoagulation-electroflotation methodology

The effluents generated by textile industries are extremely toxic and dangerous to the environment. In fact, new treatment technologies for recalcitrant effluents have been tested for high dye removal efficiency. Among these technologies, electrocoagulation has been highly promising, due to its excellent results coupled with a low operating cost. This study evaluated the electrocoagulation/electroflotation process efficiency on the removal of Eriochrome Black textile dye from aqueous solution. All the experiments were carried out using aluminum electrodes due to their availability and low cost. The parameters investigated during the experiment were: electrolysis experiment time, NaCl concentration, aqueous solution pH and electric potential. In this context, the best results considering the operational parameters studied were electric potential of 7 V, values of pH low to neutral (2-7) and NaCl concentration of 2 g L-1. It has also been observed that a time of 55 min of electrolysis is sufficient for a satisfactory result, reaching a color removal efficiency of 98.5%.