Patent ID: 8273240

Claim:
A method for treating wastewater that contains emulsified oil, the method comprising: feeding the wastewater that contains the emulsified oil to an electrolytic tank; de-emulsifying a quantity of the emulsified oil contained in the wastewater by oxidative electrolysis using indissoluble electrodes, wherein negatively charged emulsified oil particles in the wastewater are electrically neutralized on a surface of an anode during the oxidative electrolysis, the anode comprising an indissoluble electrode with oxygen radical-generating characteristics; introducing the wastewater containing the remaining emulsified oil to the bottom of the electrolytic tank containing active carbon particles and insulating plastic particles; electrolyzing the wastewater containing the remaining emulsified oil to de-emulsify the remaining emulsified oil, using the active carbon particles mixed with the wastewater as electrodes; and discharging the treated wastewater, wherein the anode both neutralizes the negative charges on the emulsified oil particles and produces hydroxyl radicals during the oxidative electrolysis, the hydroxyl radicals reacting with the emulsified oil particles such that de-emulsifying the emulsified oil particles is accelerated and no solid sediments are produced throughout the oxidative electrolysis process by the electrodes.