APPLICABILITY OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL FLOW REACTOR WITH Ti/RUO2 FOR DEGRADING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS PRESENT IN A SYNTHETIC EFFLUENT CONTAMINATED BY OIL DERIVATIVES
electrochemical reactor; electrochemical oxidation; diesel oil; Ti/RuO2; active chlorine, complete factorial design
Pollution by organic petroleum derivatives has become increasingly in nature and treatment methods are increasingly sought to remediate this type of contamination. Reactors have been extensively developed to optimize numerous treatment methods. Electrochemical reactors are being studied in order to facilitate the various types of electrochemical treatments. The study of the reactor hydrodynamics as well as the mass transport are important factors that must be observed to improve its efficiency. The hydrodynamic study of the reactor showed a predominantly turbulent flow regime with an experimental mass transport constant higher than the theoretical one indicating that the mass transfer is not homogeneous due to the presence of gases generated in the electrodes. Electro-oxidation using DSA electrodes (Ti/RuO2 due to its low cost, greater durability and relative efficiency) has been studied for removing organic substances derived from petroleum. The complete factorial design was employed as a statistical technique in order to evaluate the best conditions for the development of the synthetic effluent, analyzing the miscibility of diesel oil in a saline matrix, as well as to verify the best conditions used in the electrochemical reactor and the effects on the electro-oxidation of this saline matrix contaminated with diesel oil. From the prepared synthetic effluent, it was possible to apply electro-oxidation as a treatment technique in a flow-top bench reactor with a Ti/RuO2 anode and a titanium cathode, both network type, arranged parallel to each other and perpendicular to the reactor. Through the TOC analysis, test 6 obtained the best result, with 63% mineralization, as it could also be observed through the fluorescence and UV absorption spectra, indicating the reduction of the bands corresponding to the organic compounds present. The UV-Vis spectrum also indicated the presence of active chlorine substances, electrochemically generated compounds during the electrochemical process using this type of anode.