Production and commercialization of equipment for the electrochemical removal of metallic ions from aqueous effluents

Abstract

The central objective of this project is to transform into an industrial process the process of electrochemical removal of metallic ions, developed and tested on workbenches of the Electrochemical Engineering Laboratory in Unicamp’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Based on the results obtained in the laboratory, it is intended to design, build and optimize electrochemical reactors with three-dimensional electrodes for direct use in the galvanoplasty industry and others which have heavy metals in their aqueous effluents. The use of the electrochemical technique for removal of metals favors the elimination, or the substantial reduction, in the iodine resulting from the physico-chemical treatment of aqueous effluents used in the galvanic industries sector. The proposal for the future is to develop and install reactors for the removal of metallic ions in every water tank used for washing so as to permit the reuse of the water in the process, as well as to minimize the amount of aqueous effluents to be treated. To this end, this project aims to design reactors which meet the demand of an industry, bearing in mind the speed at which the aqueous waste is generated and the concentration of metallic ions in those solutions. The electrochemical reactors will use three-dimensional cathodes and cation membranes dividing the hydraulic flows of the anolyte and the catholyte. In addition to the design and selection of materials, studies will be carried out on the optimization of the speed of the reaction controlled by mass transport and of the distribution of speed and pressure of the fluid on the surface of the electrodes. (AU)