Performance of Fe-Graphite Electrodes for COD Removal from POME during a 30-min Electro-Fenton Treatment

Rifan Rizki

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains a high organic load and requires treatment before discharge. This study evaluated chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and organic degradation in POME using an electro-Fenton system equipped with an iron anode and a graphite cathode. POME had an initial COD concentration of 86,382.74 mg/L and a pH of 4.15. Experiments were conducted for 30 min at 300 rpm, with an interelectrode distance of 3 cm and an H₂O₂/COD ratio of 0.425. The applied current was varied from 0.10 to 0.70 A, while other conditions were maintained constant. COD removal increased as the current was raised to 0.55 A, achieving the highest removal efficiency of 45.93%. However, increasing the current to 0.70 A decreased the removal efficiency, presumably because of competing reactions, including hydrogen evolution and H₂O₂ decomposition. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that the Behnajady-Modirshahla-Ghanbary (BMG) model provided the best fit to the COD degradation data at 0.55 A, with an R² value of 0.9977. This result confirms the suitability of the BMG model for representing COD degradation under these conditions. Unlike previous POME studies that primarily investigated chemically supplied Fenton reagents or electrochemical oxidation using non-sacrificial anodes, this study integrates a sacrificial iron anode–graphite cathode system with short-term current evaluation and comparative COD kinetic modeling. Overall, the findings indicate that electro-Fenton treatment can partially reduce the organic load of high-strength POME within 30 min.

Keywords:

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Current Intensity, Electro-Fenton, Organic Degradation, Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME).

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References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.20961/equilibrium.v10i1.122378

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