Electrocatalytic Reaction as Efficient Removal Method for Ammonia Pollutant in Textile Wastewater

Abstract Textile wastewater has the potential to contain high ammonia, especially from the printing process. Nitrification-denitrification becomes the focus of treatment for this pollutant so comes the main source of the inability of the WWTP to meet the quality standards. An electrocatalytic reactor consisting of a cylindrical Ti/RuO2 anode and a copper pipe cathode (Cu) has been applied as new alternative technology. The reactor capacity is made of 1 liter with a fixed distance between the electrodes of 2 cm. Potential voltage, salt content, and hydraulic retention time are parameters for variable operation. The reactor had a high performance where ammonia concentration can be reduced by 70% for HRT of 15 minutes and 100% for 30 minutes. The ammonia removal is not only affected by processing time but also by the potential electrode and salt concentration. The removal was obtained at a complete level (100%) in operating conditions where the salt content of 2000 mg/L, a voltage of 7 volts, and an HRT of 30 minutes. The ammonia removal rate follows reaction order 1 with k of 0.1679 dan R2 of 0.9369. The pathway of nitrogen transforming ammonia directly to gas nitrogen was not through other forms (nitrate or nitrite). This method is a high-promise to improve the performance of the textile industry WWTP.