Experimental study for treating electroplating wastewater containing Crⁿ⁺, Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ by electrocoagulation

To control the pollution status of environment by electroplating wastewater, electro-coagulation technology was applied to treat electroplating wastewater containing heavy metalions. Meanwhile, the relationship between the heavy metal removal rate and some affection factors, such as initial pH value, current density, electrode span were analyzed. The results show that the removal efficiency was most effective when the pH was kept between 4 and 8. When the initial pH exceeded 8, the removal efficiency of chromium ion declined. With current density and time increasing, the removal efficiency of metal ion increased gradually. When the initial pH value was 6, the current density was 5.45 A/dm², the distance between the electrode plates was 1 cm, and the time of the electrolytic treatment was 30 min, the removal efficiency of Crⁿ⁺, Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ were 96.22%, 99.86%, 99.13% respectively.