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Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Landfill leachate treatment by electrochemical oxidation


Mohammed J.K. Bashir a, Mohamed Hasnain Isa b,*, Shamsul Rahman Mohamed Kutty b,
Zarizi Bin Awang c, Hamidi Abdul Aziz a, Soraya Mohajeri a, Izharul Haq Farooqi d
a
School of Civil Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
b
Civil Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia
c
KBE Construction Sdn. Bhd., No. 18, TKT 10 Lebuh Bishop, 10200 Penang, Malaysia
d
Department of Civil Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, Uttar Pradesh, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study investigated the electrochemical oxidation of stabilized leachate from Pulau Burung semi-aer-
Accepted 7 May 2009 obic sanitary landfill by conducting laboratory experiments with sodium sulfate Na2SO4 (as electrolyte)
Available online 11 June 2009 and graphite carbon electrodes. The control parameters were influent COD, current density and reaction
time, while the responses were BOD removal, COD removal, BOD:COD ratio, color and pH. Na2SO4 con-
centration was 1 g/L. Experiments were conducted based on a three-level factorial design and response
surface methodology (RSM) was used to analyze the results. The optimum conditions were obtained as
1414 mg/L influent COD concentration, 79.9 mA/cm2 current density and 4 h reaction time. This resulted
in 70% BOD removal, 68% COD removal, 84% color removal, 0.04 BOD/COD ratio and 9.1 pH. Electrochem-
ical treatment using graphite carbon electrode was found to be effective in BOD, COD and color removal
but was not effective in increasing the BOD/COD ratio or enhancing biodegradability of the leachate. The
color intensity of the treated samples increased at low influent COD and high current density due to cor-
rosion of electrode material.
Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction methanogenic phases. Leachates from these distinct stages contain


different constituents. Young leachates tend to be acidic due to the
The ever-increasing population, material consumption and var- presence of volatile fatty acids with pH normally in the range of 6–
ious developmental activities have resulted in a concomitant in- 7 or lower (Aziz et al., 2007). In general, young leachates are more
crease in the amount of municipal solid waste. At least a portion polluted than the older ones; BOD5 may reach up to 81,000 mg/L
of the solid waste eventually reaches landfills. Thus landfilling be- for young and 4200 mg/L for old samples (Tatsi et al., 2003). Old
comes an important means to deal with the solid wastes gener- landfills produce stabilized leachate with relatively low COD and
ated. Landfills have three kinds of outputs, i.e. gas, liquid low biodegradability (BOD5:COD ratio < 0.1) (Rivas et al., 2004).
(leachate) and inert solids. Landfill leachate is a complicated Other factors that can affect leachate characteristics include solid
wastewater that contains high concentration of pollutants which waste composition, hydrology of landfill site, climatic condition
can have adverse effects on the environment (Li et al., 1995). These and moisture content.
pollutants include organic contaminants (measured as BOD or Several wastewater treatment processes have been applied to
COD), ammonia, suspended solids, heavy metals and inorganic treat leachate: aerobic and anaerobic biological degradation,
salts. If not properly treated and safely disposed, landfill leachate chemical oxidation, chemical precipitation, coagulation–floccula-
could be a potential source of surface and groundwater contamina- tion, activated carbon adsorption and membrane processes (Tatsi
tion as it may percolate through soils and subsoils (Tatsi et al., et al., 2003; Amokrane et al., 1997). Adsorption is a widely em-
2003). ployed method for the removal of recalcitrant organic compounds
Age of landfill is one of the main factors that affects leachate from landfill leachate. Coagulation and flocculation has been em-
characteristics. As a landfill becomes older, the biological decom- ployed for the removal COD, color, turbidity and SS from landfill
position of the deposited wastes shifts from a relatively shorter ini- leachate (Aziz et al., 2007). Although ion exchange is not com-
tial period to a longer decomposition period, with acidogenic and monly employed for the treatment of landfill leachate, it has re-
ceived considerable interest in Germany for the removal of non-
biodegradable compounds that contain humic substances (Fettig,
1999). Reverse osmosis (RO) can be used for the removal of heavy
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 5 368 7346; fax: +60 5 365 6716.
E-mail addresses: hasnain_isa@petronas.com.my, hasnain_isa@yahoo.co.uk
metals, suspended/colloidal materials and dissolved solids from
(M.H. Isa). landfill leachate (Enzminger et al., 1987).

0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.


doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2009.05.004
M.J.K. Bashir et al. / Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541 2535

Due to its effectiveness and ease in operation, electrochemical Table 1


oxidation process has recently received significant attention for Characteristics of semi-aerobic landfill leachate from PBLS collected from January to
May 2007.
wastewater treatment. The process has shown its efficacy for the
destruction of refractory pollutants such as cyanide and EDTA, Parameter Value*
and also for color removal. In general, pollutants can be destroyed pH 8.9
electro-chemically by direct anodic oxidation or by indirect oxida- BOD5, mg/L 80
tion (Li et al., 1995). Many researchers have investigated the elec- COD, mg/L 1870
BOD5/COD ratio 0.043
trochemical oxidation of different wastewaters with various types Turbidity, FAU 155
of compounds. These include textile wastewater (Xiong et al., Suspended solids, mg/L 133
2001), p-chlorophenol and p-nitrophenol (Borras et al., 2003), phe- Color, Pt–Co 2970
nolic wastewater (Korbahti and Tanyolac, 2003), olive oil wastewa- *
Average of three collections.
ter (Gotsi et al., 2005), tannery wastewater (Szpyrkowicz et al.,
2005) and paint wastewater (Korbahti et al., 2007).
Electrochemical degradation of stabilized landfill leachate was The distance between the cathode and anode was 1.5 cm. Electro-
investigated by employing a flow electrochemical reactor (Moraes lyte, sodium sulfate Na2SO4, was added at a concentration of 1 g/L
and Bertazzoli, 2005) using TiO2 anode and Ti cathode. Many types to the samples before each experiment. Fig. 1 shows the schematic
of electrodes have been investigated for electrochemical treatment diagram of the simplified circuit representing the electrochemical
such as TiO2, Ti, Fe, PbO2/Ti, SnO2/Ti, graphite and aluminum (Shen reactor. After each run, the supernatant was filtered using GC-50 fil-
et al., 2006; Irdemez et al., 2006; Li et al., 1995; Isa et al., in press). ters prior to test for BOD, COD, pH and color. Chemical analyses were
This study focuses on the electrochemical treatment of leachate conducted in accordance with standard methods (APHA, 2005).
generated from Pulau Burung Landfill Site (PBLS) in Penang, Malay- In electrochemical treatment, organics removal in the presence
sia. PBLS is a semi-aerobic landfill system which was started in of Na2SO4 (electrolyte) is carried out in two ways viz.:
March 2001. This landfill produces a dark black–green color liquid
which can be classified as stable leachate with high concentrations (i) Direct oxidation, metal-cations (mostly heavy metals) are
of COD and ammonium and low BOD/COD ratio. PBLS has an area reduced at the cathode and organic pollutants are oxidized
of 66 ha, but the area which received waste till now is 33 ha. This at the anode even without involvement of other chemical
site receives 1800 ton of municipal solid waste daily. reagents (Deng and Englehardt, 2007).
The objectives of this study were: (ii) Indirect electrolysis, where the concentration of Na2SO4
accelerates the mineralization of organics. The possible reac-
– To develop a relationship between current density, reaction tions occurring at the anode, cathode and bulk are listed
time and influent COD concentration for BOD, COD and color below (Mao et al., 2008; Hunger et al., 1991; Comminellis
removal from semi-aerobic leachate. and Nerini, 1995; Giannis et al., 2007).
– To determine the optimum operational conditions (influent
At anode ðoxidationÞ :
COD, current density and reaction time) for leachate
treatment. SO2  2 
4 þ 2OH $ SO4 þ 2e þ H2 O ð1Þ
SO2
4 $ S2 O2
8 þ 2e 
ð2Þ
2. Materials and methods At higher potentials the onset of oxygen production is possible
with the overall reaction in alkaline solution being
2.1. Experimental set-up
4OH $ O2 þ 2H2 O þ 4e ð3Þ
A batch electrochemical reactor (600 mL) system was used in all At cathode (reduction): only the evolution of hydrogen occurs
experiments. Electrical current was applied by a constant voltage/ from the dissociation of water
current controlled DC Power Supply (model Dazheng SP 305D)
with maximum output current and voltage of 5 A and 30 V, respec-
tively. The reactor was placed on a magnetic stirring block in order
to keep its contents well mixed during the experiment. Graphite
carbon electrodes were used in this study. The reason for selecting
graphite carbon was due to its efficiency in wastewater treatment
and relative low cost compared to other materials (Chen, 2004).
Graphite is among the most common insoluble anodes used in
electrochemical flotation (Ho and Chan, 1986). Graphite carbon
electrodes were used for both cathode and anode in this study;
each 10  1  1 cm with contact surface area of 29 cm2 (7 cm
submergence).

2.2. Experimental procedures

Leachate samples, 20 L each, were collected three times during


the period January–May 2007 from the old leachate detention
pond at PBLS. Leachate characteristics shown in Table 1 are average
of the three collections. The samples were transported to the labo-
ratory and stored in a refrigerator at 4 °C prior to use in the
experiments.
The electrodes were placed vertically and parallel to each other Fig. 1. Schematic of a simplified circuit that represents the design of electrochem-
in the electrolytic reactor containing 500 mL of leachate sample. ical reactor.
2536 M.J.K. Bashir et al. / Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541

H2 O $ Hþ þ OH ð4Þ narrower ranges of the process variables before conducting the fac-
2H2 O þ 2e $ H2 þ 2OH ð5Þ torial design experiments. The three process variables and their
respective levels are presented in Table 2. Each factor was varied
Bulk reactions :
over three levels numerically. The number of experiments in this
Oxidation of SO2
4 ; study was 27 plus another five replications of the center point.
HSO4 þ OH ! SO
4 þ H2 O ð6Þ Thus, a total of 32 experiments were conducted. Since there are
SO þ SO ! S2 O2 ð7Þ only three levels for each factor, the appropriate model is the qua-
4 4 8
dratic model Eq. (9), where Y is the response, Xi and Xj are variables,
Oxidation of organics (A represents some other products): b0 is a constant coefficient, bj, bjj and bij are interaction coefficients
of linear, quadratic and the second order terms, respectively, k is
Organics þ S2 O2
8 ! intermediates ! H2 O þ CO2 " þA: ð8Þ
the number of studied factors and ei is the error.
X
k X
k XX
k
2.3. Experimental design and analysis Y ¼ b0 þ bj X j þ bjj X 2j þ bij X i X j þ ei : ð9Þ
j¼1 j¼1 i <j¼2
A three-level factorial design was established with the help of
Generally, the quadratic model is used for predicting the opti-
the Design Expert 6.0.7 software for the statistical design of exper-
mal conditions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for graph-
iments and data analysis. Response surface methodology (RSM)
ical analyses of the data to obtain the interaction between the
was used to determine the optimum process parameter levels.
independent (process) variables and the dependent variables (re-
The three significant process variables considered in this study
sponses). The quality of the fit polynomial model was expressed
were: initial COD concentration (A), current density (B) and reac-
by R2 (coefficient of determination) and its statistical significance
tion time (C). BOD removal, COD removal, color removal, BOD:COD
was checked by the F-test. Model terms were estimated based on
ratio and pH were chosen as response parameters. Some experi-
probability (P-value) with 95% confidence level (Ghafari et al.,
ments were conducted as a preliminary study in order to estimate
2009). Three dimensional plots with their contours were obtained
for BOD removal, COD removal, color removal and pH. Further-
Table 2 more, the optimum region was identified based on the process
Independent variables of the three-level factorial design. parameters in the overlay plot.
Level of value Initial COD (mg/L) Current density (mA/ Reaction time (h)
cm2) 3. Results and discussion
1 500 40 2
0 1185 60 3 Table 1 shows that the stabilized landfill leachate had high COD
+1 1870 80 4
(1870 mg/L) and low BOD (80 mg/L) which resulted in a very low

Table 3
Response values for different experimental conditions.

Run Factor A Factor B Factor C Response 1 Response 2 Response 3 Response 4 Response 5


Influent COD Current density Reaction time BOD removal COD removal BOD:COD Color removal
mg/L mA/cm2 h % % Ratio pH %
1 500 40 2 26.17 22 0.041 8.76 135.5
2 1870 40 2 26.1 19.2 0.033 9.16 50.8
3 1185 40 4 34.98 45.14 0.051 8.78 42.98
4 1185 60 3 55.48 42.92 0.033 9.12 39.95
5 500 60 2 23.6 24 0.043 8.6 255.45
6 500 60 3 43.6 41 0.041 8.66 290.56
7 1185 60 4 64.54 58.24 0.036 8.63 44.3
8 1185 60 2 35.5 30.2 0.04 9.07 38.4
9 1185 60 3 59.61 45.14 0.032 8.99 40.48
10 500 80 4 74.29 65 0.031 8.58 421.25
11 1870 40 3 55.74 34.35 0.029 9.1 58.24
12 500 60 4 62.61 54 0.035 8.5 335.46
13 500 80 2 40.5 32.14 0.037 8.93 280.2
14 1185 40 2 34.99 18.6 0.034 8.86 40.01
15 1870 60 2 55.74 26.32 0.026 8.98 49.66
16 1870 60 3 55.74 44.93 0.034 9.05 68.9
17 1185 80 2 39.52 34.72 0.04 9.34 50.05
18 1185 60 3 62.56 38.25 0.026 8.96 43.14
19 1185 80 4 69.07 66.35 0.039 9.54 74.45
20 500 80 3 51.8 56.2 0.047 8.9 350.26
21 1870 80 4 74.2 70.05 0.037 9.39 80.32
22 1870 80 3 67.95 54.8 0.03 9.35 52.6
23 1185 60 3 59.86 38.55 0.028 9.09 48.45
24 1185 60 3 64.53 40.66 0.026 9.06 47.3
25 1185 80 3 64.53 61.45 0.04 9.03 58.55
26 1870 40 4 36.78 38.5 0.05 9.15 63.6
27 1870 60 4 61.97 56.8 0.038 9.2 68.07
28 1870 80 2 36.78 36.5 0.043 9.3 34.9
29 500 40 4 46.7 43 0.04 8.52 236.55
30 1185 40 3 30.06 38.53 0.049 8.63 60.78
31 500 40 3 38.5 36 0.041 8.35 195.08
32 1185 60 3 54.68 43.05 0.034 9.04 45.53
M.J.K. Bashir et al. / Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541 2537

BOD:COD ratio of 0.043. It also shows that the color intensity was lack-of-fit was non-significant as the P-values were greater than
very high (dark black–green color) at 2970 Pt–Co. The responses 0.05; except for color removal where the lack-of-fit was significant
obtained under different experimental conditions are tabulated (P < 0.0001).
in Table 3. The results show COD removal to be from 19.2% to Fig. 2 shows the normal probability plots of the studentized
70.0%, BOD removal from 23.6% to 74.2%, color removal from residuals for: (a) BOD removal, (b) COD removal, (c) color removal
421.2% to 80.3%, BOD/COD ratio from 0.026 to 0.051and pH from and (d) pH. A normal probability plot indicates whether the resid-
8.35 to 9.54. uals follow a normal distribution, in which case the points will fol-
low a straight line. Some scatter is expected even with normal
3.1. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) data. It can therefore be concluded from Fig. 2 that the data is nor-
mally distributed.
The application of RSM offers an empirical design to relate the
response and test variables based on parameter estimation. By 3.1.1. BOD removal
applying the factorial regression analysis on the experimental data The effect of experimental conditions (influent COD, current
given in Table 3, responses and factors can be related by polyno- density, reaction time) on BOD removal efficiency is shown as 3D
mial equations. Quadratic models obtained for each response, after surface plots in Fig. 3. This figure indicates that the BOD removal
neglecting statistically non-significant terms, are presented in Eqs. efficiency increased when the current density and reaction time
(10)–(14). A, B and C are model terms that represent the operating were increased. The initial COD concentration has limited effect
factors influent COD, current density and reaction time, on BOD removal; with maximum removal efficiency being 69.2%,
respectively. 72.7% and 76.2% at initial COD concentrations of 500, 1185 and
1870 mg/L, respectively (sodium sulfate concentration 1 g/L, reac-
BOD removal ¼ 57:02 þ 3:51A þ 10:48B þ 11:46C
tion time 4 h and current density 80 mA/cm2). The minimum
 5:62B2  6:39C 2 þ 5:80BC ð10Þ BOD removal (22.4%) was obtained with influent COD 500 mg/L,
COD removal ¼ 43:14 þ 10:11B þ 14:08C þ 1:99B2 current density 40 mA/cm2 and reaction time 2 h.

 3:31C 2 þ 2:60BC ð11Þ


3.1.2. COD removal
Color removal ¼ 48:17 þ 168:19A  25:01B  11:79C The effect of influent COD concentration on COD removal was
 157:79A2 þ 39:98AB þ 33:23AC ð12Þ found to be non-significant under the current reaction conditions
i.e. factor levels. Hence, unlike BOD removal above, only one 3D
BOD : COD ratio ¼ 0:034  2:0  103 A  1:333  103 B
surface plot (Fig. 4) depicts the COD removal efficiency. Fig. 4
þ 1:111  103 C þ 5:84  103 B2 shows that COD removal increased with increase in current density
þ 3:167  103 AC  3:833  103 BC ð13Þ and reaction time. With influent COD 1870 mg/L, sodium sulfate
2 concentration 1 g/L, reaction time 4 h and current density 80 mA/
pH ¼ 9:01 þ 0:27A þ 0:17B  0:039C  0:094A þ 0:083AC ð14Þ
cm2, the maximum COD removal efficiency was 68.6%. The mini-
The ANOVA (Table 4) confirms adequacy of the quadratic model mum COD removal (20.2%) was obtained with influent COD
(Model Prob > F is less than 0.05). The probability values of each 1870 mg/L, current density 40 mA/cm2 and reaction time 2 h.
model term are presented except those terms with probability val-
ues greater than 0.1, which were considered non-significant. 3.1.3. Color removal
The ANOVA summary results of the quadratic models are pre- Color removal efficiency increased when the influent COD, cur-
sented in Table 5. Model F-values imply that the four models are rent density and reaction time were increased (Fig. 5). In case of
significant. Also based on statistical analysis, the models were low pollutant concentrations (COD = 500 mg/L), however, the color
highly significant with very low probability values (<0.0001). The intensity increased when the current density was raised. This was

Table 4
ANOVA results for significant model terms.

Model Sum of squares Degree of freedom Mean square F-value Prob > F

BOD removal A 222.11 1 222.11 4.42 0.0457 Significant


B 1976.53 1 1976.53 39.36 <0.0001
C 2363.05 1 2363.05 47.05 <0.0001
B2 234.49 1 234.49 4.67 0.0405
C2 303.17 1 203.17 6.04 0.0213
BC 403.22 1 403.22 8.03 0.0090
COD removal B 1838.0 1 1838.0 206.79 <0.0001 Significant
C 3567.31 1 3567.31 401.36 <0.0001
B2 29.34 1 29.34 3.30 0.0808
C2 81.27 1 81.27 9.14 0.0056
BC 81.12 1 81.12 9.13 0.0056
Color removal A 5.092E+005 1 5.092E+005 838.44 <0.0001 Significant
B 11256.0 1 11256.0 18.53 0.0002
C 2501.84 1 2501.84 4.12 0.0532
A2 1.961E+005 1 1.961E+005 322.87 <0.0001
AB 19180.8 1 19180.80 31.58 <0.0001
AC 13249.47 1 13249.47 21.82 0.0002
pH A 1.32 1 1.32 57.53 <0.0001 Significant
B 0.52 1 0.52 22.47 <0.0001
C 0.028 1 0.028 1.22 0.2799
A2 0.070 1 0.070 3.05 0.0923
AC 0.082 1 0.082 3.55 0.0707
2538 M.J.K. Bashir et al. / Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541

Table 5
ANOVA results for response surface quadratic model.

Source Sum of squares Degree of freedom Mean square F-value Prob > F

BOD removal Model 5669.47 6 944.91 18.82 <0.0001 Significant


Residual 1255.49 25 50.22
Lack of fit 1181.3 20 59.07 3.98 0.0657 Not significant
Pure error 74.19 5 14.84
SD = 7.09, R2 = 0.8187, R2adj = 0.7752, Adeq. precision = 15.357
COD removal Model 5579.04 5 1115.81 125.54 <0.0001 Significant
Residual 231.09 26 8.89
Lack of fit 193.48 21 9.21 1.22 0.4485 Not significant
Pure error 37.61 5 7.52
2 2
SD = 2.98, R = 0.9602, Radj = 0.9526, Adeq. precision = 37.465
Color removal Model 7.514E+05 6 1.252E+05 206.23 <0.0001 Significant
Residual 15182.26 25 607.29
Lack of Fit 15119.82 20 755.99 60.53 <0.0001 Significant
Pure error 62.45 5 12.49
2 2
SD = 24.64, R = 0.9802, Radj = 0.9637, Adeq. precision = 41.888
pH Model 2.02 5 0.4 17.56 <0.0001 Significant
Residual 0.6 26 0.023
Lack of fit 0.58 21 0.028 7.61 0.166 Not significant
Pure error 0.018 5 3.63E03
SD = 0.15, R2 = 0.7716, R2adj = 0.7277, Adeq. precision = 15.93

Fig. 2. Design–expert plot; normal probability plot of the studentized residuals for the: (a) BOD removal, (b) COD removal, (c) color removal and (d) pH.

due to electrode corrosion at increased current density and tem- words, under the present parameter ranges, electrochemical treat-
perature of the solution (which reached 80 °C at maximum cur- ment was found to be not suitable for increasing the BOD:COD ra-
rent). The effect was so severe that even negative values of color tio and enhancing biodegradability of the stabilized leachate.
removal efficiencies were observed. At influent COD 1870 mg/L,
reaction time 4 h and current density 80 mA/cm2, the maximum 3.1.5. pH
color removal efficiency was 83%. The pH variation for all experimental conditions tested in this
study was small (8.35–9.54). Fig. 6 shows increase in pH when
3.1.4. BOD/COD ratio influent COD and current density were increased (due to the in-
Table 1 shows that the BOD:COD ratio varied between 0.026 creased OH ion production at high current). This can be repre-
and 0.051 for all the experimental conditions tested. In other sented by the following equation (at cathode):
M.J.K. Bashir et al. / Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541 2539

furic acid. The water is broken at the interface into its component
ions: hydrogen and hydroxyl ions that migrate towards the cath-
ode and anode, respectively. During their migration they react with
the target salt to yield its acid and base.

3.2. Optimization of experimental conditions

The overlay plot (Fig. 7) was used for optimization of experi-


mental conditions. The optimum region was identified by consid-
ering BOD removal, COD removal, color removal, BOD:COD ratio
and pH higher than the arbitrarily chosen constraint values men-
tioned in the plot. As seen from the box in Fig. 7, the optimized
conditions occurred at influent COD 1414 mg/L, current density
79.9 mA/cm2 and reaction time 4 h. This, according to the model,
should result in BOD removal of 73.9%, COD removal of 68.5%, color
removal of 79.9%, BOD/COD ratio of 0.036 and pH of 9.24. An
experiment was then conducted to verify the optimum results. Ta-
ble 6 shows the responses obtained from model prediction and lab-
oratory experiment to be in good agreement. These also agree

Fig. 3. 3D surface plots for BOD removal efficiency.

Fig. 4. 3D surface plot for COD removal efficiency (initial COD = 500–1870 mg/L).

2H2 O þ 2e ! 2OH þ H2 : ð15Þ


In this study, sodium ions migrate towards the cathode and
form sodium hydroxide with the hydroxyl ions produced there,
while the sulfate ions migrate towards the anode and produce sul- Fig. 5. 3D surface plots for color removal efficiency.
2540 M.J.K. Bashir et al. / Waste Management 29 (2009) 2534–2541

Table 6
Optimum response results from overlay plot and laboratory.

Responses Overlay results Laboratory results


BOD removal (%) 73.9 69.8
COD removal (%) 68.5 67.6
BOD/COD ratio 0.0358 0.040
pH 9.24 9.08
Color removal (%) 79.9 83.7

reasonably well with Moraes and Bertazzoli (2005) who used a


flow electrochemical reactor with 30% RuO2 and 70% TiO2 coated
titanium electrodes to treat stabilized landfill leachate. They ob-
tained 71%, 73% and 86% removal of BOD5, COD and color, respec-
tively, at a current density of 116 mA/cm2 and 3 h reaction time.
Another landfill leachate treatment study (Atmaca, 2009) that used
cast iron plates for both anodes and cathodes (surface area
22.6 cm2) yielded 72% and 90% removal of COD and color respec-
tively, with treatment duration 20 min, constant DC current 3 A,
H2O2 concentration 2000 mg/L and the initial pH 3. Li et al.
(1995) also applied electrochemical treatment for landfill leachate
using different kinds of electrodes. The highest COD removal of 92%
was achieved by using Sn–Pd–Ru oxide-coated titanium (SPR) an-
ode under operating conditions of 4 h reaction time, 15 mA/cm2
current density and 7500 mg/l additional chloride concentration.

4. Conclusions

Electrochemical treatment of stabilized leachate from PBLS was


studied in a 500 mL batch reactor with graphite carbon electrodes
(surface area 29 cm2) in the presence of sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) as
electrolyte. Five responses were analyzed using ANOVA. The opti-
mum operational conditions were obtained as influent COD
1414 mg/L, current density of 79.8 mA/cm2 and reaction time 4 h.
This resulted in 69.8% BOD removal, 67.6% COD removal, 83.7% col-
or removal, 0.04 BOD/COD ratio and 9.08 pH; which were consis-
tent with the overlay plot results. According to the present study,
electrochemical treatment using graphite carbon electrodes was
effective for BOD, COD and color removal. At low pollutant concen-
tration (COD) and high current density, however, the color inten-
sity increased due to corrosion of the carbon electrodes. For the
parameter ranges studied, the initial COD concentration of leachate
did not affect COD removal and the method was not effective in
Fig. 6. 3D surface plots for pH. increasing the BOD/COD ratio or enhancing biodegradability of
the stabilized leachate.

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Idaman Bersih. Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia for providing ac-


cess to the landfill for leachate collection.

References

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