Investigation of Phenol Removal by Proxy-Electrocoagulation Process with Iron Electrodes from Aqueous Solutions

Background: Phenol as an aromatic hydroxyl compound are considered as a priority pollutant.  Because of their stability, solubility in water and high toxicity had health important. Methods: In the present experimental study, electrocoagulation reactor by iron electrodes are used in the presence of hydrogen peroxide to phenol removing from aqueous solutions. Effects of variables including H2O2 dosage, reaction time, pH, current density and initial phenol concentration were evaluated to estimate the efficiency of the process. Results: The results showed that pH and H2O2 have the most important role in the removal of phenol. Increasing of H2O2 concentrations from 0.0125 to 0.025 M increased removal efficiency from 74% to 100%. Maximum removal was achieved at pH=3. However, increasing the pH to 9 lead to reducing removal efficiency to 9.8%.  Also, by increasing of current density removal efficiency was increased. But with increasing initial concentration of phenol removal efficiency was reduced. Conclusion: Proxy-electrocoagulation process as an effective and robust process can be used for handling of phenol containing wastewater.