High Conductivity Water Treatment Using Water Surface Discharge with Nonmetallic Electrodes

Although electrohydraulic discharge is effective for wastewater treatment, its appli- cation is restricted by water conductivity and limited to the treatment of low conductivity water. For high conductivity water treatment, water-surface discharge is the preferred choice. However, the metallic electrodes are easily corroded because of the high temperature and strong oxidative environment caused by gas phase discharge and the electrochemical reaction in water. As a result, the efficiency of the water treatment might be affected and the service life of the reactor might be shortened. In order to avoid the corrosion problem, nonmetallic electrode water-surface discharge is introduced into high conductivity water treatment in the present study. Carbon-felt and wa- ter were used as the high voltage electrode and ground electrode, respectively. A comparison of the electrical and chemical characteristics showed that nonmetallic electrode discharge maintained the discharge characteristics and enhanced the energy e±ciency, and furthermore, the corrosion of metal electrodes was avoided.