Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235

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Desalination
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / d e s a l

An experimental study of indigo carmine removal from aqueous solution

by electrocoagulation
Marius Sebastian Secula a,⁎, Igor Creţescu b, Stelian Petrescu a
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, 73, Prof. Dr. Doc. D. Mangeron,
700050, Iasi, Romania
b
Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, 73,
Prof. Dr. Doc. D. Mangeron, 700050, Iasi, Romania

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents an experimental study on the removal of Indigo Carmine dye from aqueous solutions
Received 24 December 2010 using a batch stirred electrocoagulation reactor. The experimental tests were carried out in a discontinuous
Received in revised form 9 April 2011 system provided with steel electrodes. The main purpose was to investigate the effects of the operating
Accepted 12 April 2011
parameters, such as pH, initial concentration, electrolysis duration, current density, and electrolyte support
Available online 8 May 2011
concentration, on the treatment of a synthetic wastewater containing indigo carmine dye in the batch
Keywords:
electrocoagulation process.
Electrocoagulation The batch electrocoagulation reactor was operated at various current densities ranging from 5.46 to
Decolorization 54.57 A⋅m− 2. Initial concentration of the dye was ranged between 25 and 100 mg⋅L−1. The initial value of pH
Indigo carmine was varied from 5 to 9, while the concentration of the electrolyte support ranged from 0.2 to 4.5 g⋅L−1.
Iron electrode It was shown that pH control during electrocoagulation process is not beneficial in case of Indigo Carmine
Energy consumption removal.
The values of the rate constant were determined according to the pseudo first-order kinetic model that fits the
experimental data. The highest rate constants were achieved for a current density of 54.57 A⋅m− 2, an initial
dye concentration of 25 mg⋅L− 1, an initial pH of 8, and a background electrolyte concentration of 77 mM.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction permanent injury to cornea and conjunctiva [6], is carcinogenic and

Textile wastewaters are among the most polluted ones due to their
characteristics such as high concentration oxidable substances,
persistent color, low biodegradability, high pH and temperature [1].
Dye-containing effluents can obstruct light penetration in the water of
lakes, rivers or lagunas, thus inhibiting the biological processes based
on photosynthesis. Moreover, these effluents can contain chemicals
that are toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic to various
microbiological or animal species [2].
Indigo Carmine, a vat dye, is mainly used in the textile industry for
the dyeing of polyester fibers and denim [3]. It is estimated that
around 30% of the applied dyes remain unfixed and are discharged
in the effluent [4]. Indigo Carmine is also used in food industry,
cosmetics industries, as a diagnostic aid, as a redox indicator in
analytical chemistry, and as a microscopic stain in biology [5].
Nevertheless, Indigo Carmine is a highly toxic indigoid dye and
might cause skin and eye irritations to human beings. It can also cause
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 40 232 278683; fax: + 40 232 271311.
E-mail address: mariussecula@ch.tuiasi.ro (M.S. Secula).
can lead to reproductive, developmental, neuro and acute toxicity. It
has also been established that the dye leads to tumors at the site of
application [7]. Indigo carmine causes irritation to the gastrointestinal
tract leading to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It may also cause
irritation to the respiratory tract such as coughing and shortness of
breath [5].
Various technologies have been employed in order to separate
Indigo Carmine from water and wastewater. So far, beside adsorption
over chitin and chitosan [8] and charcoal from extracted residue of
coffee beans [9], electrochemical [10], biological [11] and photochem-
ical [7,12,13] techniques have also been tested.
Electrocoagulation has attracted great attention as an eco-
friendly and cost-effective process [14] and involves the in situ
generation of coagulants by electrolytic oxidation of an appropriate
sacrificial anode upon application of a direct current. In case of iron
anodes, the ions generated hydrolyze in the electrocoagulation cell to
produce ferric hydroxide ions and neutral Fe(OH)3. The low solubility
of the neutral Fe(OH)3, promotes the generation of sweep flocs inside
the treated waste and the removal of the pollutants by their
enmeshment into these flocs. Electrocoagulation process removes
pollutants principally by coagulation, adsorption, precipitation and
flotation [15].

0011-9164/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.desal.2011.04.031
228 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235

Excepting a very few papers, the economical aspect related mainly

to the energy consumption of the electrocoagulation process has been
rarely considered in most papers approaching this method [16].
In the present work, an experimental study approaching the
electrocoagulation of dye-containing wastewater in batch reactor
operated under galvanostatic regime is discussed. An electrocoagula-
tion set-up employing mild steel anode was used. The influence of the
wastewater pH, initial dye concentration, current density, background
electrolyte and operating time over the separation of Indigo Carmine
dye from aqueous solutions by electrocoagulation was investigated.
Cell voltage and solution pH were monitored during electrocoagula-
tion process. Also the specific energy consumption was calculated and
discussed. Pseudo first order kinetic model was used in order to
determine the rate constant of the electrocoagulation process under
various experimental conditions.

2. Experimental part

2.1. Materials

Indigo Carmine (Fig. 1), which is also commonly known as Acid Fig. 2. Experimental set-up.

Blue 74 or Food Blue 1 or FD & C Blue 2 (CASRN 860-22-0), is a dark

blue, water-soluble powder. The molecular formula of the dye is
C16H8O8N2S2Na2 and molecular weight is 466.36.
Stock solution of 1 g/L Indigo Carmine (Sigma Aldrich) was
prepared by dissolving the dye in ultrapurified water. Having a
resistivity higher than 18.2 MΩ⋅cm at 25 °C, the ultrapurified water
was obtained by passing distilled water through a Barnstead Easypure
II Thermo Scientific Water Purification System.
To adjust the solution conductivity NaCl and Na2SO4 (A.R. Lach-Ner,
Neratovice, Czech Republic) respectively were dissolved into dye
synthetic solutions. The pH of the synthetic dye wastewater was
adjusted by means of 0.1 N solutions of H2SO4 and NaOH respectively.
H2SO4 instead of HCl was preferred for pH adjustment in order to avoid
the addition of extra chloride ion amounts since NaCl was used as
electrolyte support in most of the experimental tests.
2.2. Electrocoagulation experiments
experiments, approximately 5 cm3 of sample were taken, allowed to
settle for 24 h, centrifuged by means of a S8 centrifuge (Boeco,
Germany) at 6000 RPM (3421 RCF) for 10 min, and then analyzed.
Two multimeters were used to measure the current and the
applied potential respectively. The pH and conductivity of the solution
were measured by a C863 Consort multi-parameter analyzer.
2.3. Determination of the concentration of Indigo Carmine dye
To estimate the removal of Indigo Carmine dye, the absorbance at
612 nm (wavelength that shows maximum absorbance, as shown in
Fig. 3) was measured by means of UV–visible spectrophotomer
Thermo Scientific Helios Epsilon.
The color removal efficiency (Y, %) was calculated from:

The electrocoagulation cell consisted in a parallel plate electro- C0 C

Y¼ × 100 ð1Þ
chemical cell provided with two facing electrodes. The experimental C0
set-up used in this study is shown in Fig. 2. The effective electrode
area was 183 cm2. The anode and cathode were positioned vertically
where, C0 is the concentration of dye before electrocoagulation
and fixed at a distance of 3 mm one from another. A stainless steel
(mg⋅L − 1 ), and C is the concentration of dye after t min of
plan plate was used as cathode. The anode was a mild steel plan plate.
electrocoagulation (mg⋅L− 1).
The electrodes were connected to a digital DC power supply (IT6322,
0-30 V; 0-3A; ITECH, Nanjing, China). All the runs were performed at
room temperature 20 °C ± 1 °C.
The experiments were carried out in a batch mode. In each run,
1000 cm3 of the model wastewater solution was placed into the
electrochemical cell and a gentle agitation was ensured along the run.
The current density was set to a desired value and then coagulation
was started.
Sixty-cubic centimeter samples were taken during the 3 h long
runs for assessment of the treatment progress as follows. For all

Fig. 1. Structural chemical formula of Indigo Carmine dye. Fig. 3. UV–VIS spectra of Indigo Carmine dye.
 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235 229

2.4. Determination of energy consumption 3.1. Effect of operating time

Energy consumption can be calculated as follows: In Fig. 4 is shown the evolution of decolorization rate and color of
samples at the electrocoagulation of 50 mg/L IC for 3 h under the
E¼U×I×t ð2Þ mentioned conditions. Fig. 5 outlines the main stages of the
electrocoagulation process.
At the beginning of the electrocoagulation process, the
where U is the voltage, V, I – current intensity, A, and t – time, h.
electrochemical dosing of iron into solution result in a relatively
The specific energy consumption can be determined by dividing
limited effect on the decolorization rate. The generation of mostly
the energy consumption at the quantity of separated dye.
Fe(OH)2(s) (green flocs) into solution changes the color of the
model wastewater from dark blue (Fig. 5a), to dark green (not
2.5. Determination of rate constant
shown here). After 20 min, the pH value already changed from 7.1
to 8.2. At this moment (Fig. 5b) the concentration of Fe(OH)3
In the investigated electrocoagulation processes, the rate of Indigo
increased so that the color of dye solution passes relatively fast
Carmine removal is proportional to the dye concentration and the
from dark green into yellow brown. This phenomenon has been
amount of ferric hydroxide formed [17]:
explained by Ghernaout and colab. [18] through the formation of
flocs due to the spontaneous discharge of ferric ions that lead to
dC ferric hydroxide (brown flocs) in the presence of hydroxyl ions.
¼ k × C × CFeðOHÞ3 ð3Þ
dt Most probably due to the absorption on the generated flocs of the
blue IC dye, the solution color turns to green after 40 min of
where CFe(OH)3refers to the concentration of adsorbent present in the electrocoagulation. Also, the slope of the decolorization rate
system. Since the generation of ferric hydroxide can be assumed becomes steeper and remains so for until 80 min of electrocoagu-
constant for a given current density, Eq. (3) can be reduced to pseudo lation time, when a decolorization rate of 80% is achieved. At the
first order kinetics: end of the electrocoagulation process, the stirring was turned off
and the flocs separated by both sedimentation and flotation as
dC shown in Fig. 5d. After 3 h of electrocoagulation a 96% decolor-
¼ k1 × C ð4Þ
dt ization rate was achieved.

The integration of Eq. (4) results in: 3.2. Effect of current density

The effect of current density is expected to be strong mainly on the

C
log ¼ k1 × t ð5Þ color removal kinetics, thus resulting in a shorter treatment time
C0
[14,16,19–21]. At high current densities, the increase of the anodic
dissolution rate leads to greater amounts of precipitate for pollutant
The rate constant k1 can be estimated from the plot log(C/C0) removal. Also the bubble generation rate increases, while the bubble
versus electrocoagulation time. size decreases, which are beneficial for the separation of pollutants by
flotation [21,22].
3. Results and discussion Experimental tests that emphasize the influence of current density
over the decolorization rate were performed at neutral pH for an
The effects of model wastewater pH, initial dye concentration, initial concentration of Indigo Carmine dye of 40 mg⋅L− 1 in the
current density, background electrolyte and operating time are presence of 1.5 g⋅L− 1 NaCl. Fig. 6a outlines the effect of current
discussed separately. density on the decolorization rate that increases with increasing
electrocoagulation time.
Doubling the value of current density from 5.46 A⋅m− 2 to
10.91 A⋅m− 2, the decolorization rate increases from 49.2% to 98.9%
after 3 h of electrocoagulation. Applying a current density of
54.57 A⋅m− 2 leads to a decolorization rate of 99.9% after 60 min as
shown in Fig. 6a.
As might be noticed in Table 1, the most important increase of the
rate constant of the separation process occurs at 10.91 A⋅m− 2.
After 60 min of electrocoagulation the decolorization rates
achieved where 28, 74, 86, 95 and 99.9% for current density
values of 5.46, 10.91, 16.37, 27.28, and 54.57 A⋅m−2 respectively.
This is due to the fact that at higher values of current density the
anodic dissolution rate increases according to Faraday's law and
the resulting iron hydroxides produce more flocs thus enhancing
the coagulation process [23]. Moreover, the bubbles generated at
higher currents improve the mixing of iron hydroxides and
Indigo Carmine dye and further the separation of the flocs by
flotation.
As can be noticed in Fig. 6b at current density values higher than
10.91 A⋅m− 2, the specific energy consumption increases significantly
and then drops suddenly due to the enhancement of the electro-
coagulation process that overwhelms the increase of the energy
Fig. 4. Decolorization by electrocoagulation of an aqueous solutions of IC (C0 = 50 mg/L, consumption. At higher values of current densities, the exceeding of
CNaCl = 0.2 g/L, pHi = 7.1, j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, κi = 1.1 mS⋅cm− 1). the sudden drop in specific energy consumptions might lead to
230 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235
Fig. 5. Evolution of electrocoagulation process: (a) initial state; (b) 20 min, pH = 8.2; (c) 40 min, pH = 9; (d) 180 min of electrocoagulation and 5 min after stirring was turned off
(C0 = 50 mg/L, CNaCl = 0.2 g/L, pHi = 7.1, j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, κi = 1.1 mS⋅cm− 1).
important energy losses. For instance, at a current density value of
54.57 A⋅m− 2, after 15 min of electrocoagulation, a removal rate of
90.64% is achieved with a specific energy consumption of
0.018 kWh⋅g− 1. After 20, 30 and 40 min of electrocoagulation, the
specific energy consumptions increase with 28, 86 and 143%
respectively, while the removal rates increase to 94.67, 96.75 and
97.57%, respectively.
Based on the experimental data achieved it can be noticed that
removal efficiencies of about 99% require 0.017 kWh⋅g− 1 for a current
density of 10.91 A⋅m− 2, 0.021 kWh⋅g for 16.37 A⋅m− 2, 0.043 kWh⋅g
for 27.38 A⋅m− 2 and 0.056 kWh⋅g− 1 for 54.57 A⋅m− 2. Therefore it
can be stated that in order to achieve certain removal efficiencies, the
specific energy consumption increases with current density.
It was found that the electrocoagulation process of Indigo Carmine
obeys a pseudo-first order kinetic model. Fig. 7 emphasizes the
influence of the applied current density on the rate constant.
It can be noticed that the rate constant increases with the increase
in the applied current density. A second order polynomial model fits
well the rate constant dependence on the current density.
3.3. Effect of initial dye concentration
In Fig. 8 is shown the influence of the initial dye concentration over
the decolorization rate, specific consumption, energy consumption
and pH values. As can be seen, at initial dye concentrations higher
than 75 mg/L, the specific energy consumptions present no significant
improvements.
At the lowest value of the initial dye concentration the evolution of
specific energy consumption resembles that of the process taking
place at high values of current density. This is characterized by a
strong increase in energy consumption, then a drop followed by a
region of relatively constant specific energy consumption. After
120 min of electrocoagulation the efficiency of the process decreases.
However, Fig. 8b pinpoints that the most important reduction in
specific energy consumption is reached for Indigo Carmine solutions
of at least 75 mg⋅L− 1.
Fig. 9 shows the influence of initial dye concentration on the rate
constant determined according to the pseudo-first order kinetic
model.
 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235 231

Fig. 7. Variation of pseudo first order rate constant with applied current density
(C0 = 40 mg/L IC, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L, pHi = 7, κi = 6.6 mS⋅cm− 1).

In order to determine the influence of controlling the solution pH,

two sets of tests were carried out at initial pH values of 5, 7 and 9
respectively. One set of tests was performed by controlling the pH
value during electrocoagulation, and another one without pH control.
In Fig. 10 is exemplified the influence of controlling the pH for a

Fig. 6. Decolorization rate (a) and specific energy consumption (b) evolution at several
values of current density. Insert graphs: pseudo first order kinetics plots (a) and
evolution of electrical energy consumed (b). (C0 = 40 mg/L IC, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L, pHi = 7,
κi = 6.6 mS⋅cm− 1).

As can be noticed, the rate constant decreases with the increase of

the initial concentration of Indigo Carmine. This is due to the decrease
in the ratio of hydroxo cationic complexes to the initial concentration
of dye, which results in a decrease of the rate of dye removal.

3.4. Effect of model wastewater pH

Chen and colab. stated that the values of solution pH present an

important influence on the overall performance of the electrocoagula-
tion process [24]. The decolorization rate at the electrocoagulation of
aqueous solutions of Indigo Carmine dye was investigated in the initial
pH range from 5 to 9. Also it was studied the influence of controlling the
pH value of treated solutions within approximately 0.5.

Table 1
Values of pseudo first order constants at different concentrations and support
electrolyte.

Run Background Concentration, Conductivity, k1, min− 1 R2

electrolyte mM mS⋅cm− 1

1 NaCl 3.42 1.20 1.280⋅10− 2 0.967

2 8.56 2.48 1.401⋅10− 2 0.977
3 25.67 6.40 1.687⋅10− 2 0.952
4 76.92 16.20 2,161⋅10− 2 0.968
5 Na2SO4 3.42 1.69 7.734⋅10-3 0.961
Fig. 8. Decolorization rate evolution (a) and specific energy consumption (b) at various
6 8.56 3.88 6.262⋅10-3 0.926
initial dye concentration. Insert graphs (a): pseudo first order kinetics plots
7 25.67 10.4 7.022⋅10-3 0.898
(j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L, pHi = 7).
232 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235
Fig. 9. Variation of pseudo first order rate constant with initial dye concentration
(j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L, pHi = 7).
solution having the initial pH value of 5 over the decolorization rate,
specific energy consumption and voltage of the current applied.
There are papers reported in literature claiming that pH control-
ling in case of iron-based electrocoagulation processes leads to higher
efficiencies. However, the mechanism of electrocoagulation depends
Fig. 10. Specific energy consumption (a) and voltage (b) evolution at different pH
regimes. Insert graphs: (a) Evolution of decolorization rate and (b) pH during
electrocoagulation (C0 = 50 mg/L IC, j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L, pHi = 5).
mainly on the pollutant nature [25,26]. Thus, in this study it was found
that the addition of acid solution, in order to control the pH value of
the treated solution, in fact limits the development of the flocs
generated. This is supported by the fact that for the controlled-pH
tests it is obtained a plateau of the decolorization rate as a function of
the initial pH values of the treated solution. The lower the initial pH
value of the treated solution, the lower the value of the decolorization
rate plateau. This is also stressed in Fig. 11 where the influence of
solution pH over the rate constant is shown.
Fig. 10b outlines the influence of the addition of acid solution onto
the voltage. This decreases due to the increase of the solution
conductivity based on the addition of sulfate ions.
According to literature [27], influencing the stability of the
generate hydroxide species, the initial pH of wastewater can either
have a positive or negative influence on the treatment rate. Fig. 12
shows the influence of the initial pH (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) of Indigo
Carmine dye wastewater over the decolorization rate and specific
energy consumption in case of non-controlled pH. For all the initial pH
values, the final values increased and stabilized around pH 11. The
increase of solution pH during electrocoagulation is mainly attributed
to the increase of hydroxide ions (HO−) concentration that is
generated from water reduction at the cathode [28]:
−
2H2 OðlÞ + 2e−⇔H2 ðg Þ + 2OH ð2Þ ð6Þ
In spite of a relatively faster separation of Indigo Carmine dye from
solution at the beginning of electrocoagulation processes at lower
initial pH values, the decolorization rate after 3 h is approximately
similar at all values of initial pH investigated. The same fact is also
valid for the specific energy consumption as shown in Fig. 12b. Mollah
and colab. stressed that the maximum removal efficiency of dye-
containing wastewaters occurs at the pH of 6.9 and consequently they
concluded this is the optimal pH value where the most of iron
complexes are formed [29]. This might explain the more enhanced
removal of dye when the initial pH value is lower. However, as can be
seen in the insert plot in Fig. 12a, the pH increases quite fast until a
value of 8 is reached. Hence, the system is operated most of the time
outside the optimal range of pH.
Based on the values of rate constant shown in Fig. 11, the most
favorable initial pH value for the electrocoagulation process taking
place without pH control is 8, while the most unfavorable is 6.
Fig. 11. Variation of pseudo first order rate constant with initial pH (C0 = 50 mg/L IC,
j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L, pHi = 5).
 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235 233

Fig. 13. Dependence of the electrical power on the concentration of background

electrolyte (after 30 min of electrolysis).

Fig. 12. Variation of decolorization rate (a) and specific energy consumption (b) as a
function of the initial pH. Insert graph (a): evolution of pH (C0 = 50 mg/L IC,
j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, CNaCl = 1.5 g/L).

3.5. Effect of background electrolyte

The effects of two different background electrolytes, NaCl and

Na2SO4, and their concentration over the electrocoagulation perfor-
mance was investigated. In case of adding NaCl, the conductivity of
the model wastewater (50 mg/L Indigo Carmine) increased linearly
from 1.2 mS⋅cm− 1 to 16.2 mS⋅cm− 1 (data not shown here). Similar
effect was obtained by adding Na2SO4.
In Fig. 13 is presented the effect of adding background electrolyte
on the electric power. For each concentration of background
electrolyte, the values of current and voltage were measured after
30 min electrolysis.
The important decrease in the electrical power, from 0.46 W to
0.05 W, with the increase of NaCl concentration to 1 g/L, respectively,
from 0.35 W to 0.075 W, with the increase of Na2SO4 concentration to
1.215 g/L. Further increases of the background electrolyte concentra-
tion do not lead to significant diminutions of the electric power. Thus,
the values mentioned can be considered as optimal ones for the
studied system.
In Fig. 14a is shown the influence of adding Cl− ion onto the
decolorization rate and specific energy consumption, while in Fig. 14b
is presented the effects over the electric energy consumption and pH
Fig. 14. Influence of NaCl concentration on the decolorization rate (a) and energy
value of the treated solution. consumption (b). Insert graphs: (a) evolution of specific energy consumption; (b) variation
As can be noticed, the excessive addition of NaCl has rather a of pH value during electrocoagulation process at different concentration of electrolyte
negative effect on the decolorization rate of Indigo Carmine dye support (C0 = 50 mg/L IC, j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, pHi = 7).
234 M.S. Secula et al. / Desalination 277 (2011) 227–235
solution. However, according to the specific energy consumption it
can be noticed that increasing three folds the amount of background
electrolyte, from 25.67 mM NaCl to 77.00 mM NaCL, the diminution of
this parameter becomes marginal. This is supported by examining the
evolution of energy consumption during the electrocoagulation
process.
The pH value of treated solution increases with the addition of
NaCl, which is due to the increase of the solution conductivity and
thus to the increase of hydroxide ions concentration. In addition,
Chen and colab. [30] reported that Cl− or SO2− 4 can exchange partly
with HO− in metal hydroxides to free hydroxyl ions, which also
causes a pH increase.
In Table 1 are listed the values of rate constant corresponding to
the processes taking place with different concentration of background
electrolyte.
In Fig. 15a is shown the influence of adding Na2SO4 onto the
decolorization rate and specific energy consumption, while in Fig. 15b
are presented the effects over pH value of the treated solution and
electric energy consumption.
Though the addition of Na2SO4 concentration has a positive effect
on the decolorization rate of Indigo Carmine dye solution, decreasing
also the specific energy consumption, Table 1 pinpoints values much
lower of the rate constant in comparison with NaCl.
Lee and colab. reported that the addition of Cl− ions into solutions
lead to an increase of the anodic dissolution rate of the sacrificial
Fig. 15. Influence of Na2SO4 concentration on the decolorization rate (a) and
wastewater pH (b). Insert graphs: (a) evolution of specific energy consumption;
(b) energy consumption (C0 = 50 mg/L IC, j = 10.91 A⋅m− 2, pHi = 7).
electrode, either by the incorporation of Cl− to the oxide film or by the
participation of Cl− in the metal dissolution reaction [31].
Therefore, the addition of NaCl to the wastewater is a better choice
for increasing the performance of the electrocoagulation process.
However, as discussed the decolorization rate decreases when more
NaCl was added. Hence, the excessive amount of chloride ions in
solution is unfavorable to the coagulation of the dye. Wang and colab.
explained this phenomenon by assuming the chloride ions form
transitory compounds with the metal hydroxides generated into
solution. Moreover, chloride ions might be discharged at the anode
and generate Cl2 that is dissolved into solution and chemically
converted to ClO- which can further oxidize the pollutants [32].
4. Conclusions
The effects of the main operating parameters, such as pH, initial
concentration, operating time, current density, and electrolyte
support concentration on the treatment of a synthetic wastewater
containing indigo carmine dye in the batch electrocoagulation process
were investigated.
The treatment of Indigo Carmine dye in a batch electrocoagulation
reactor can lead to almost complete decolorization when the
experimental set-up is operated at optimal values of parameters.
Electrocoagulation process of Indigo Carmine obeys the pseudo-
first order kinetic model. The values of the rate constant were
determined.
The optimal ranges of the investigated parameters of electro-
coagulation process were determined. A minimum of 10.91 A⋅m− 2 of
current density should be applied, while an increase of this parameter
leads to higher and faster obtained removal rates. However, in order
to achieve certain removal efficiencies, the specific energy consump-
tion increases with current density. Having in view the minimization
of the energy consumption, in order to achieve a dye removal
efficiency of 99% from aqueous solution containing 40 mg⋅L− 1 of
Indigo Carmine, a current density of 10.91 A⋅m− 2 and a residence
time of 180 min were found to be the optimal parameters.
Initial dye concentrations higher than 75 mg⋅L− 1 ensure good
efficiencies for the electrocoagulation process. It was determined that
support electrolyte concentrations higher than 1.5 g⋅L− 1 of NaCl do
not lead to significant increase of the specific energetic consumption.
It was found that the highest efficiencies are achieved with non-
adjusted pH. However, the initial value of pH seems to present very
weak influence on the removal rate.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the CNCSIS-UEFISCSU, project PN II-
RU No. 52/2010, COD 44.
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