Treatment of Se-Impacted Wastewater Using a Three-Dimensional Packed Bed Electrochemical Reactor
Authors: Yang Zilan , Zhao Jiaxiang , Xie Ao , Judkins Phoebe , Zou Shiqiang (Nick) 
Published: August 2024

Selenium is an essential element for flora and fauna in trace amounts. It plays a crucial role in bolstering photosynthesis and facilitating thyroid hormone metabolism. However, excessive consumption of selenium can result in health concerns such as reproductive complications and cancer. Selenium usually coexists with minerals such as copper and coal in the natural environment. The associated activities, such as copper mining and coal combustion, have greatly accelerated the mobilization of selenium. The selenium released through coal combustion is mostly captured in the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater as inorganic selenite and selenate.

Our lab previously validated the viability of direct electrochemical reduction (SeDER) to remove dissolved selenite from a simplified FGD water matrix using planar gold and graphite cathodes, where more than 94% of the aqueous selenite can be converted to elemental Se(0) deposited on the cathode surface. Graphite is eventually selected for its low material cost, decent removal performance, and minimum secondary pollution as compared to gold and other non-noble metal cathodes. This direct electrochemical deposition process provides many benefits that existing biological and indirect electrochemical methods lack, such as zero chemical addition and low to zero solid generation. However, this method is only suitable for wastewater with elevated temperatures necessary to generate conductive Se(0) for continuous reduction. The inclusion of a heating process adds complexity to the design, impeding the scalability of the SeDER system. Furthermore, the application of SeDER is constrained to Se-impacted wastewater with an elevated temperature.

In this study, we propose a novel reactor design utilizing electrochemical reduction to treat Se-impacted wastewater at ambient temperature. The electrodes we used are made of graphite for the reasoning stated above. The reactor consists of a pair of planar graphite anode and cathode, and the inner chamber is filled with cylindrical graphite particle electrodes (PEs) separated by a nylon spacer to create an anodic chamber and a cathodic chamber. The PEs act as an extension of the planar electrodes, which offers numerous reaction sites and minimizes the travel distance for selenite ions to reach the electrode surface. In our 120-mL batch test with 0.1-mM selenite in 100-mM phosphate buffer, the exact system without filler removed 0% selenite at room temperature, while the filled 3D system removed on average 50% of the selenite in 3 hours. Using the same 3D system, we then investigated performance enhancement with a recirculating operation. The total working volume is fixed at 200 mL, while the flow rate and the applied voltage vary. The flow rate is set at the values with hydraulic retention time (HRT) fixed at 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min. The system-applied voltage is set at -1.9V (just enough for selenite reduction), -2.1V, and -2.3V. We found that the shortest HRT combined with -2.1V system applied voltage yielded the highest selenite removal performance in all tests, with an average of 47% removal in 3 hours. We hypothesized that the shorter HRT provides a faster flow rate that refreshes the PE’s surface from insulative Se(0) deposition, which provides sustainable reaction sites for the incoming selenite. At -2.1V, the potential is negative enough to allow selenite reduction while fewer parasitic reactions (e.g., hydrogen evolution reaction) occur compared to that under -2.3V.

With the selected system voltage and flow rate, we eventually explored competing ion behavior and switched from a simplified water matrix to simulated Se-impacted wastewater. We found that of all the commonly found competing ions (i.e., sulfate, nitrate, and chloride), chloride significantly impacts selenite removal, with performance dropping to 10% removal in 3 hours. Nitrate slightly decreased the selenite removal, with an average Se removal performance of 23%. Sulfate, on the other hand, resulted in an increase in selenite removal after addition. We hypothesize that a high sulfate concentration in simulated wastewater could help alleviate the repulsing force from the cathode surface for the selenite ions. The double layer of the PEs could also be compressed by the high ionic strength, which decreases the capacitance and promotes selenite reduction. To confirm this hypothesis, we conducted an electrochemical impedance study to analyze the effect of competing ions on reaction kinetics and capacitance. We also performed surface analysis for the wasted planar electrodes and PEs to investigate the change in morphology and observed possible chemical residue. These characterizations will help us develop a regeneration protocol in long-term operation and help us scale up our prototype to manage actual Se-impacted wastewater.