Eletrocoagulação com eletrodos de aço no tratamento de efluente de abatedouro bovino

Abstract

Cattle breeding presents itself as an activity of great economic and social relevance for Brazil. However, the large amounts of effluents and residues from the processing and slaughter stages in slaughterhouses have a high polluting potential and are often discarded without prior treatment. To remedy the negative impacts that these liquid wastes can cause to the environment when released into water bodies, many treatment methods have been developed and evaluated, with electrocoagulation standing out as a promising technology. The main factors influencing the electrocoagulation process are pH, electrode material, current density and treatment time. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of electrocoagulation with steel electrodes in removing color, turbidity and UV254nm from cattle slaughterhouse effluent. For this purpose, laboratory scale electrochemical reactors were built and tests were carried out evaluating the pH of the effluent at 5, 7 and 9, potentials of 5.0 V, 10.0 V and 15.0 V and treatment time of 30. 60 and 90 minutes. It can be inferred, through statistical analysis, that the best results were achieved at pH 7.0, treatment time of 90 minutes with application of 15.0 V, with removal efficiencies of 93.54% of color, 95.11% turbidity and 90.59% UV254nm. It is concluded that electrocoagulation can be a very promising treatment for effluents from slaughterhouses that treat their effluents in a conventional way.