TY - JOUR AU - Lei Li AU - Case M van Genuchten AU - Susan E Addy AU - Juanjuan Yao AU - Naiyun Gao AU - Ashok J Gadgil AB -

Understanding the chemical kinetics of arsenic during electrocoagulation (EC) treatment is essential for a deeper understanding of arsenic removal using EC under a variety of operating conditions and solution compositions. We describe a highly constrained, simple chemical dynamic model of As(III) oxidation and As(III,V), Si, and P sorption for the EC system using model parameters extracted from some of our experimental results and previous studies. Our model predictions agree well with both data extracted from previous studies and our observed experimental data over a broad range of operating conditions (charge dosage rate) and solution chemistry (pH, co-occurring ions) without free model parameters. Our model provides insights into why higher pH and lower charge dosage rate (Coulombs/L/min) facilitate As(III) removal by EC and sheds light on the debate in the recent published literature regarding the mechanism of As(III) oxidation during EC. Our model also provides practically useful estimates of the minimum amount of iron required to remove 500 μg/L As(III) to <50 μg/L. Parameters measured in this work include the ratio of rate constants for Fe(II) and As(III) reactions with Fe(IV) in synthetic groundwater (k1/k2 = 1.07) and the apparent rate constant of Fe(II) oxidation with dissolved oxygen at pH 7 (kapp = 100.22 M–1s–1).

BT - Environmental Science & Technology DA - 11/2012 DO - 10.1021/es302456b IS - 21 LA - eng N2 -

Understanding the chemical kinetics of arsenic during electrocoagulation (EC) treatment is essential for a deeper understanding of arsenic removal using EC under a variety of operating conditions and solution compositions. We describe a highly constrained, simple chemical dynamic model of As(III) oxidation and As(III,V), Si, and P sorption for the EC system using model parameters extracted from some of our experimental results and previous studies. Our model predictions agree well with both data extracted from previous studies and our observed experimental data over a broad range of operating conditions (charge dosage rate) and solution chemistry (pH, co-occurring ions) without free model parameters. Our model provides insights into why higher pH and lower charge dosage rate (Coulombs/L/min) facilitate As(III) removal by EC and sheds light on the debate in the recent published literature regarding the mechanism of As(III) oxidation during EC. Our model also provides practically useful estimates of the minimum amount of iron required to remove 500 μg/L As(III) to <50 μg/L. Parameters measured in this work include the ratio of rate constants for Fe(II) and As(III) reactions with Fe(IV) in synthetic groundwater (k1/k2 = 1.07) and the apparent rate constant of Fe(II) oxidation with dissolved oxygen at pH 7 (kapp = 100.22 M–1s–1).

PY - 2012 SP - 12038 EP - 12045 ST - Environ. Sci. Technol. T2 - Environmental Science & Technology TI - Modeling As(III) Oxidation and Removal with Iron Electrocoagulation in Groundwater VL - 46 SN - 0013-936X ER -