Author : Thanushree.M.S, Poorna.C.R, Chaitra.M, Devaanandan.S and Manjunatha.K.S

The present study is to treat the effluent from the silk industry using an advanced method i.e., Batch electrochemical coagulation (BECC) for the removal of COD and color using both iron and aluminium electrode in a lab scale and presenting a comparative study of these electrodes. It has been found that the removal can be achieved using both Iron and Aluminium electrodes. And in this study,the voltage is varied from 4 – 14V for both the electrodes and treatability study is done for around 120 minutes and also optimizing the voltage such that high efficiency of removal is achieved in lower voltage using the electrodes. As it has been found that Al is efficient in 10 and 12V – 90% of COD removal and similarly Fe is found to be efficient in 6 and 8V-82% of COD removal and color removal was around 70-90% using both electrodes. Recommending this advanced treatment method to the industry since the BOD/COD ratio of the effluent varies from 0.1 -0.2 which needs a physico-chemical treatment to improve the BOD/COD ratio of the effluent for the further treatment.

Keywords: BECC, silk industry, BOD, Fe and Al electrodes, Color, BOD/COD.

Article published in the Proceedings of National Conference on ‘Women in Science & Engineering’ (NCWSE 2013), SDMCET Dharwad