Application of Electrochemical Processes for Treating Effluents from Landfill Leachate as Well as the Agro and Food Industries

This chapter provides an overview of the performance of electrochemical technologies such as anodic oxidation (AO), electro-Fenton processes (EF and photo EF), electrocoagulation (EC), and their coupling with traditional processes for treating effluents from the agro and food industries as well as landfill leachate. In the case of AO and EF procedures, stronger oxidants are produced to degrade the organics. The generation of •OH at the anode surface from water discharge and in the bulk from Fenton’s reaction between added Fe2+ and H2O2 generated at a carbonaceous cathode with pure O2 or compressed air as well as the production of active chlorine species and persulfate anion destroy the pollutants, transforming the initial and complex organic content into CO2 and inorganic ions. The electrocoagulation process (EC) removes the pollutants present in wastewater by the formation of flocs from sacrificial anodes. Finally, the application of electrochemical technologies coupled to traditional wastewater treatments allows for increasing the removal of recalcitrant and/or bioresistant compounds present in effluents from the agro and food industries as well as landfill leachate. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.