Electrooxidation Using Nb/BDD as Post-Treatment of a Reverse Osmosis Concentrate in the Petrochemical Industry

This work evaluated the performance of an electrochemical oxidation process (EOP), using boron-doped diamond on niobium substrate (Nb/BDD), for the treatment of a reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) produced from a petrochemical wastewater. The effects of applied current density (5, 10, or 20 mA·cm(−2)) and oxidation time (0 to 5 h) were evaluated following changes in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC). Current efficiency and specific energy consumption were also evaluated. Besides, the organic byproducts generated by EOP were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results show that current densities and oxidation time lead to a COD and TOC reduction. For the 20 mA·cm(−2), changes in the kinetic regime were found at 3 h and associated to the oxidation of inorganic ions by chlorinated species. After 3 h, the oxidants act in the organic oxidation, leading to a TOC removal of 71%. Although, due to the evolution of parallel reactions (O(2), H(2)O(2,) and O(3)), the specific energy consumption also increased, the resulting consumption value of 66.5 kW·h·kg(−1) of COD is considered a low energy requirement representing lower treatment costs. These results encourage the applicability of EOP equipped with Nb/BDD as a treatment process for the ROC.