Investigation of various pollutants removal in leachate by electrocoagulation method

Landfilling is the most widely used method for the waste treatment. as experienced in other solid- waste landfills, leachates are generated during the decomposition of the garbage buried and as a result of the percolation of rainfall through the landfill. landfill leachates consist of a complex mixture of organic and inorganic components which can contain toxic and hazardous contaminants. due to the wide variation in the characteristics of the leachates, there is no unique way for their treatment. therefore, the effective treatment of landfill leachate usually requires a combination of various physical, chemical and biological technologies. up to now, electrochemical process has been proved to be promising for wastewater treatment mainly due to its high effectiveness and easy operation. this study investigated the efficiency of electrocoagulation in removing total nitrogen (tn), chemical oxygen demand (cod), total organic carbon (toc) from leachate. the paper studies the factors affecting the efficiency of removing these parameters of leachate, such as amount of electrode material, current density, electrolysis time. the sample of leachate was supplied from aksaray landfill site in aksaray. in experimental studies the optimal duration was determined to be 30 minutes for cod. the removal efficiencies of cod %83, with two electrodes for 5 v at 30 minutes. 120 minutes were accepted as the most suitable reaction time for total organic carbon. the increase in the operating time was found to have a lesser effect on the total nitrogen recovery efficiency. all the findings of the study revealed that treatment of leachate by electrochemical process can be used as a step of a joint treatment.