comparison of electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation processes in removing reactive red 196 from aqueous solution

Background: conventional chemical coagulation is considered as an old method to dye and cod removal in textile effluent. electrocoagulation (ec) process is a robust method to achieve maximum removal. methods: this study was designed to compare the result of operational parameters including optimum ph and coagulant concentration for chemical coagulation with ferric chloride and alum also, voltage, electrolysis time, initial ph, and conductivity for ec with iron electrodes to remove reactive red 196 (rr 196). results: the outcomes show that ferric chloride and alum at optimum concentration were capable of removing dye and cod by 79.63 % and 84.83% and 53% and 55%, respectively. in contrast, ec process removed the dye and cod by 99.98% and 90.4%, respectively. conclusion: the highest treatment efficiency was obtained by increasing the voltage, electrolysis time, ph and conductivity. increase initial dye concentration reduces removal efficiency. ultimately, it could be concluded that ec technology is an efficient procedure for handling of colored industrial wastewaters.