Catalysis Today, Vol.66, No.2-4, 519-527, 2001
Electrochemical destruction of thiourea dioxide in an undivided parallel plate electrodes batch reactor
The paper presents the results of a study on the electrochemical destruction of pollutants present in a spent reducing bath of a textile factory. The investigations comprised the electro-oxidation of thiourea dioxide (TUD) (the main component of the reducing bath), sulphites and urea, which are formed during oxidation of TUD. The study performed in an undivided cell parallel plate electrodes reactor, using eight different anode materials under various hydrodynamic conditions, proved that electro-oxidation can be successfully applied for treatment of spent reducing baths. The best results of TUD and SO32- electro-oxidation were obtained with a Ti/Pt electrode, which showed electrocatalytic effect for both the compounds, indicating a possibility of their direct electro-oxidation on the anode. Destruction of TUD and SO32- proceeded also via indirect electro-oxidation, mediated by chlorine evolved on the anode. The process kinetics was mass transport controlled till Re = 5000. No electrocatalytic effects were observed for urea with any of the tested anode materials. The elimination of urea resulted to proceed only by indirect electro-oxidation, mediated by chlorine. For elimination of urea a Ti/Pt-Ir electrode proved to be the best anode, probably due to its high efficiency in electro-oxidation of chlorides into chlorine.
Keywords:thiourea dioxide;electrochemical reactor;direct electro-oxidation;mediated electro-oxidation;textile wastewater treatment