The removal of zinc from liquid streams by electroflotation

The removal of heavy metals from dilute aqueous solutions (in the range of 10−7–10−4 mol dm−3) is often not acceptable using classical methods, which do not achieve levels in accordance with environmental quality standards. Electroflotation has certain desirable characteristics, compared to dissolved and dispersed air flotation, particularly in regard to the small bubble size distribution of the process. The aim of this work was to develop an electroflotation (EF)/electrocoagulation (EC) cell to study this combined process and the influence of some relevant parameters/variables, such as collector concentration, tension and current density variation, on the removal of zinc from synthetic solutions containing 20 mg l−1 of the metal. A platinum gore (5 mm) anode and stainless steel mesh cathode were used in the electroflotation cell. The work showed that it was possible to remove zinc by electroflotation, 96% removal being achieved using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as collector in the stoichiometric ratio 1:3, current density of around 8 mA/cm2 and an inlet pH of about 7.0.