Removal of clomazone herbicide from a synthetic effluent by electrocoagulation

Water Sci Technol. 2016;73(12):2944-52. doi: 10.2166/wst.2016.133.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate the kinetics of removal of clomazone herbicide from an aqueous solution by electrocoagulation. The experiments were performed in a cylindrical batch reactor with six aluminum electrodes in monopolar mode, arranged in series and connected to a digital DC power. The aqueous solution (tap water + clomazone) with initial pH close to 7.9 was always treated at ambient temperature (≈20 °C) and atmospheric pressure for 5,400 s. For a confidence level of 95% the rate constant of electrocoagulation and the efficiency of removal of clomazone at equilibrium were 2.1 × 10(-3) ± 0.5 × 10(-3) s(-1) and 97.7 ± 2.2%, respectively. The final chemical oxygen demand was 88% lower than that measured initially, while turbidity and apparent color were totally removed from the synthetic solution at a rate close to that of formation of aluminum hydroxides. Some reaction intermediates, such as benzonitrile-2-chloro and 2-chloro-hex-2,4-diene-1,6-dioic-acid determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, explain the ratio of equilibrium to initial total organic carbon approximately between 0.6 and 0.8 at a probability of 95%.

MeSH terms

  • Aluminum / analysis
  • Electricity
  • Electrodes
  • Herbicides / chemistry*
  • Isoxazoles / chemistry*
  • Oxazolidinones / chemistry*
  • Waste Disposal, Fluid / instrumentation
  • Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / chemistry*

Substances

  • Herbicides
  • Isoxazoles
  • Oxazolidinones
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • clomazone
  • Aluminum