Removal of Heavy Metals from Municipal Wastewater Sludge Under the Effect of Electric Current Application

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Civil engineering Dep., Menoufia univ. Egypt

2 Civil engineering Dept., Mc Gill Univ. Canada

Abstract

..' . The application of an electri'c current was used to invest~gate the
removal of heavy metals from a,dewatered wastewater municipal sludge.
Electric current application enabled the removal of Nickel, Chromium, Zinc,
and Coppe~ fiom sludge samples. Distilled water was introducid,to the
electro-kihtic cell used for the study to compensate for cathodic effluent. As
a conse&etice of electric current application, the amount of collected cathodic
effluent,& fluctuations, and electrical conductivity variations of the cdllected
catho'dic efhueit were investigated and found to be governing factofs for the
application of the process. Approximately 40% of Nickel removal was
achieved whileremoval of other investigatedmetals ranged from 5 to 8%
'during the experimental run. Removal rates of different metals and 'power
consumption during the experimeinial run were also investigated. '