Studies relating to an electrochemically assisted coagulation for the removal of chromium from water using zinc anode

In this work, an electrochemically assisted coagulation for the removal of chromium from water has been studied using zinc as anode and galvanized iron as cathode. The effects of pH, current density, concentration of chromium, temperature, adsorption kinetics and isotherms on the removal of chromium were investigated. The results showed that the optimum removal efficiency of 96.5% was achieved at a current density of 0.2 A/dm², at a pH of 7.0. First- and second-order rate equations, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models were applied to study adsorption kinetics. The adsorption process follows second-order kinetics model with good correlation. An equilibrium isotherm was measured experimentally and the results were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Redushkevich model using linearized correlation co-efficient. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm was found to fit the equilibrium data for chromium adsorption. Temperature studies showed that the adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous in nature.