Study on nitrate removal from wastewater by micro-electrolysis and construction of iron-carbon micro-electrolysis reactor (ICMER)

This study explored the potential of using iron-carbon micro-electrolysis (ICMER) to remove nitrate from artificially simulated wastewater. Various factors that mainly influence the removal efficiency of nitrate from wastewater were studied using batch experiments. The results showed that the mixing of iron and activated carbon formed a galvanic cell to effectively remove nitrates at the optimal Fe/C ratio of 3:1 (88.22% for NO3–-N and 33.54% for TN). Moreover, the removal of nitrates was not influenced by the changes in temperature (removal efficiency stabilized within the range of 88.98%-90.26% for the temperatures range of 10-50℃). In addition, the results from the continuous flow ICMER reactor showed that the removal efficiencies of nitrate and TN were 83.77% and 61.66%, respectively, with the Fe/C ratio of 3:1. Coexisting anions showed a significant influence on the removal efficiency of nitrates from wastewater. This study provides a reference for developing ICMER technology to remove nitrates from various wastewater systems.