Effect of the Electroconductivity of an Electrofilter Load on the Mechanism, Efficiency, and Energy Consumption of Water Purification from Dispersed Impurities.

The electrical retention of charged dispersed contaminants on an electrofilter loaded with electrically conductive and non-conductive dispersed particles (ion-exchange resin KU-2-8 and clinoptilolite) was experimentally studied. The used model dispersed contaminant was an anion-exchange resin, whose surface charge sign was opposite to the load charge. The studies were performed in the potentiostatic regime at an interelectrode voltage ranged from 5 to 90 V. At the same time, the current–time dependence was measured at different loads and electrolyte concentrations. The character of dependence between the water purification degree and the electrical field intensity, the water or electrolyte flow rate through the electrofilter, and the concentration of used electrolyte solutions was analyzed. Clinoptilolite was shown to provide the same degree of water purification from dispersed contaminants as for the cation-exchange resin, but at a slightly lower current and a voltage higher by several times. Hence, the purification of water from dispersed impurities on an electrofilter loaded with ion-exchange resin particles was more profitable from the viewpoint of energy consumption as compared to clinoptilolite. The dependence of the electrical field distribution in the electrofilter on the electrical conductivity of a load and its effect on the electrophoresis and dipolophoresis of load particles at different charge values was theoretically analyzed. The replacement of the electrically conductive load by the non-conductive one was shown to have an effect on the conditions for the transport of contaminant particles to the load surface and the location of a sediment with respect to the hydrodynamic flow and, thereby, on the character and efficiency of their electrical retention on the electrofilter. Taking into account these factors, the load of electrically conductive particles was concluded to have a higher efficiency in good agreement with experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]