Author
Abstract
Shat Al-Arab is a river located at the south of Iraq. Boron concentration has
increased significantly recently due to the drought season which makes water from
the Arabian Gulf pour into Shat Al-Arab. Boron concentration, as high as 5 mg/l,
was detected in this river. This is 10 times the allowable drinking water concentration
for boron according toWHO and the Iraqi drinking water guidelines, i.e. 0.5 mg/l.
Experiments were conducted to determine the ability of electrocoagulation
technique to reduce boron concentrations in synthetic water of 5 mg Boron/l and
conductivity of 2000 μS/cm to the required level in drinking water. Experimental
setup was prepared to determine the effects of several operating parameters on the
optimum operation for the electrocoagulation. In addition, the technique was
compared with chemical coagulation, using Poly-Aluminum-Chloride, Aluminum
Sulphate, and Ferric Chloride.
The experiments revealed that chemical coagulation has a very low efficiency
(about 12%) that renders it unsuitable as a pretreatment for existing (or for the future)
desalination units. On the other hand, electrocoagulation experiments showed a
maximum boron removal efficiency of 40% at a current density of 5 mA/cm2,
operating time of 30 minutes, and pH of 8.
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