Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 25 No 6 (2021): 1068 - 1080

 

 

 

 

CHALLENGES OF ALUM RECOVERY FROM DRINKING WATER TREATMENT SLUDGE USING ELECTROLYSIS METHOD

 

(Cabaran untuk Pemulihan Alum daripada Enapcemar Rawatan Air Minuman Melalui Kaedah Elektrolisis)

 

Rizkiy Amaliyah Barakwan and Yulinah Trihadiningrum*

 

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil, Planning, and Geo Engineering,

Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Kampus ITS Sukolilo, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia

 

*Corresponding author: trihadiningrum@gmail.com

 

 

Received:  4 July 2021; Accepted: 17 October 2021; Published:  27 December 2021

 

 

Abstract

Aluminum sulfate was used as coagulant in the coagulation process in drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) to remove various types of contaminants from the raw water. Acidification was applied for alum recovery from sludge, but it was a nonselective process. It was followed by an electrolysis to separate the aluminum from impurities. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency and challenges of the electrolysis in the alum coagulant recovery from drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS). The dried DWTS was acidified using sulfuric acid at pH 3 and then separated in centrifugation to get the acidified alum sludge solution. The electrolysis was conducted using carbon (C)/silver (Ag), platinum (Pt)/platinum (Pt), and platinum (Pt)/stainless stell (SS A304) electrodes with current density of 25, 29.17, and 12.5 mA/cm2, respectively. The electrolysis was performed in a batch recirculation reactor without membrane, using cation exchange membrane (CEM), and anion exchange membrane (AEM). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) value was measured using titrimetric method. The metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cr) in the deposited matter at the cathode were weighed and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP). The results showed that the use of CEM in the electrolysis with Pt/SS A304 electrodes increased the alum recovery up to 67.56% that was pure of organic contaminants. The challenges in alum coagulant recovery from DWTS using electrolysis method were the differences of the raw water quality during wet and dry seasons, the appropriate electrical current density, the electrode materials, the potential value at the anode and cathode, and the use of the ion exchange membrane in the electrolysis.

 

Keywords:  alum recovery, cation exchange membrane, drinking water treatment sludge, electrolysis.

 

Abstrak

Aluminium sulfat digunakan sebagai penggumpal dalam proses penggumpalan-pengentalan di loji rawatan air minuman untuk menghilangkan pelbagai jenis bahan cemar yang terdapat dalam kandungan air mentah. Pengasidan telah dipilih untuk proses pemulihan penggumpal dari enapcemar alum, tetapi proses ini bersifat tidak selektif. Oleh itu, proses pemulihan ini kemudiannya diikuti dengan proses elektrolisis untuk memisahkan aluminium daripada kekotoran. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai kecekapan dan cabaran kaedah elektrolisis dalam proses pemulihan alum daripada enapcemar rawatan air minuman. Untuk mendapatkan larutan lumpur tepu yang berasid, enap cemar telah ditambah dengan asid sulfurik pada pH 3 dan seterusnya dipisahkan dengan kaedah pengemparan. Elektrolisis dilakukan menggunakan elektrod karbon (C) / perak (Ag), platinum (Pt) / platinum (Pt), dan platinum (Pt) / keluli tahan karat (SS A304) dengan kepadatan arus 25; 29.17; dan 12.5 mA /cm2. Elektrolisis dilakukan dalam reaktor sesekumpul dengan sistem kitaran semula tanpa membran, membran pertukaran kation (CEM), dan juga membran pertukaran anion (AEM). Kepekatan permintaan oksigen kimia (COD) diukur dengan kaedah titrimetrik. Kepekatan logam (Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, dan Cr) dalam enapan pulih guna yang menumpuk pada katod ditimbang dan dianalisis menggunakan plasma gandingan aruhan. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa penggunaan CEM dalam elektrolisis menggunakan elektrod Pt / SS A304 dapat meningkatkan kecekapan pemulihan alum yang bersih dari bahan cemar organik sehingga 67.56%. Cabaran dalam memulihkan penggumpal alum dari enap cemar rawatan air minuman menggunakan kaedah elektrolisis ini terletak pada perbezaan kualiti air mentah pada musim hujan dan kering, ketumpatan arus elektrik yang sesuai, pemilihan bahan elektrod, nilai potensi pada anod dan katod, serta penggunaan membran pertukaran ion semasa elektrolisis dijalankan.

 

Kata kunci:  pemulihan alum, membran pertukaran kation, enap cemar rawatan air minuman, elektrolisis

 

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