Rapid and Efficient Arsenic Removal by Iron Electrocoagulation Enabled with in Situ Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide

Bandaru, Siva R.  S.; van Genuchten, Case M.; Kumar, Arkadeep; Glade, Sara; Hernandez, Dana; Nahata, Mohit; Gadgil, Ashok

doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c00012

Rapid and Efficient Arsenic Removal by Iron Electrocoagulation Enabled with in Situ Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide

Journal Article · Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c00012· OSTI ID:1616139

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; Glade, Sara ^[1]; Hernandez, Dana ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[4]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Geologic Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area

Millions of people are exposed to toxic levels of dissolved arsenic in groundwater used for drinking. Iron electrocoagulation (FeEC) has been demonstrated as an effective technology to remove arsenic at an affordable price. However, FeEC requires long operating times (~hours) to remove dissolved arsenic due to inherent kinetics limitations. Air cathode Assisted Iron Electrocoagulation (ACAIE) overcomes this limitation by cathodically generating H₂O₂ in situ. In ACAIE operation, rapid oxidation of Fe(II) and complete oxidation and removal of As(III) are achieved. Here, we compare FeEC and ACAIE for removing As(III) from an initial concentration of 1464 μg/L, aiming for a final concentration of less than 4 μg/L. We demonstrate that at short electrolysis times (0.5 min), i.e., high charge dosage rates (1200 C/L/min), ACAIE consistently outperformed FeEC in bringing arsenic levels to less than WHO-MCL of 10 μg/L. Using XRD and XAS data, we conclusively show that poor arsenic removal in FeEC arises from incomplete As(III) oxidation, ineffective Fe(II) oxidation and the formation of Fe(II–III) (hydr)oxides at short electrolysis times (<20 min). Finally, we report successful ACAIE performance (retention time 19 s) in removing dissolved arsenic from contaminated groundwater in rural California.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; AC02-76SF00515; IA0000018

OSTI ID:: 1616139

Journal Information:: Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 54; ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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