Guillermo J Rincon
University of New Orleans College of Engineering, USA
Title: Electro-coagulation/flotation for the simultaneous removal of oil and grease and heavy metals from artifitial bilge water
Biography
Biography: Guillermo J Rincon
Abstract
The research presented herein discusses the feasibility of using electro-coagulation (EC) as a method to treat bilge water discharges, with an emphasis on emulsified oil and heavy metals (copper, nickel and zinc) removal. EC experiments were conducted using a bench-scale continuous-flow reactor (manufactured by Ecolotron, Inc.) and a synthetic oily emulsion as experimental fluid. The as-synthetized bilge water contained 5000 mg/L of oil and grease 5 mg/L, 1.5 mg/L and 2.5 mg/L of copper, nickel and zinc respectively. Experimental results showed high removal efficiencies for oil and grease, specially when using a combination of carbon steel and aluminum electrodes. Operating the bench-scale reactor to allow for 1 min retention time and 0.6 A/cm2 produced pre-filtration effluent concentrations of oil and grease of less than 10 mg/L. High removal effciencies were also observed for heavy metals. 99% removal of zinc and 70% removal for copper and nickel resulted from using the same carbon steel and aluminum electrodes, retention time of 1 minute and a current of 7.5 A.