ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES, sa.11, ss.1-27, 2024 (ESCI)
This study examined the elimination of tetracycline (TC) in aqueous samples by electrocoagulation (EC), ultrasonography (US), and US-assisted EC methods. The efects of TC
removal with EC method were examined using diferent types of junctions, i.e., monopolar
parallel (MP-P), monopolar serial (MP-S), bipolar serial (BP-S), and eight various combinations of aluminum and iron hybrid electrodes. The efectiveness of EC variables on TC
and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efciencies was investigated, including the
combination of hybrid electrodes, the initial value of pH, current density, initial concentration of TC, airfow volume, conductivity of the solution, and connection confguration.
Optimal conditions for the 5-min EC time were found to be: Al-Fe-Fe-Fe electrode confguration, pH initial value of 6, current density of 50 A/m2
, TC concentration of 100 mg/L,
airfow volume of 2 L/min, solution conductivity of 1000 µS/cm, and MP-P connection
type. Under these conditions, TC and COD removal efciencies were 96.3% and 91.2%,
respectively. Additionally, under optimal operating criteria in the fxed-power, fxed-frequency US-coupled EC process, TC and COD removal efciencies were 100% and 97.5%,
respectively. UV absorbance was measured before and after treatment using EC, US, and
US-assisted EC techniques. Taking into account electrode, energy, and chemical consumption, the operating costs for EC and EC-US were determined to be 0.215 €/m3
and 0.76 €/
m3
, respectively. The results showed that the US-assisted EC and EC process was highly
efective in removing TC from aqueous solutions.