(41m) Removal of Copper Ions from Acidified Dilute Solution By Using Multi-Rotating Disc Electrochemical Reactor

Abstract

Heavy metal removal from waste water has received a great concern due to their disobedience and persistence in the environment. There are various methods have been extensively used for this purpose such as adsorption, chemical precipitation, cementation, ion exchange, etc. In this study a multi-rotating disc electrochemical reactor with a grooved and smooth surface has been used to remove copper ions from acidified dilute solutions of copper sulfate at the limiting current ( Constant Current Electrolysis). The experimental module consists of cell and electrical circuit, the cell consists of Plexiglas cylinder of 15.5 cm and 30 cm height. The electrical circuit consisted of insoluble lead anode and a cathode of multi-rotating rough/smooth discs. The discs are made of pure copper with diameter of 7 cm (five discs), thickness of parallel grooves is 2 mm, the distance between discs was fixed at 1.5 cm, and distance between parallel grooves is fixed at 3 mm. The work was carried out at different speed or rotation (50, 100,and 150 RPM) and different initial concentration of copper sulfate (0.008M CuSo4 + 1.5 M H2So4, 0.008M CuSo4 + 1.5 M H2So4, and 0.008M CuSo4 + 1.5 M H2So4) at constant temperature. The results revealed that the percent of copper removal in the rough discs is ranging from 39.4 to 78.77% and for smooth discs is ranging from 34.3% to 68.9 % depending on the speed of discs and concentration of copper ions. In general, the rough discs have a higher percent of copper removal than the smooth discs with a factor ranging from 1.09 to 1.22 depending on the concentration of copper ions and disc rotation speed, due to high exposed area in rough than smooth discs.

 Keywords:

Rotating disc, Electrochemical reactor; Copper ions; Grooved surface, Smooth surface