مشخصات پژوهش

To address the issues of environmental pollution from wastewater in the paper mill industry, this study analyzes and compares the life cycle and cost assessment of paper mill effluent treatment using three electrochemical processes: electrocoagulation (EC), electro-Fenton (EF), and sequential EC/EF. This study uniquely applies a cathode–anode switching strategy with integrated life cycle and cost assessments to evaluate electrochemical treatment in the paper industry. The COD removal efficiencies from the optimization results achieved were EC 64 %, EF 72 %, and for EC/EF 92.9 %. According to the life cycle assessment, the highest CO2 emissions were in EC (36 g CO2 eq) and the lowest emissions were in EC/EF (19.9 g CO2 eq). EC recorded the highest and lowest human health impacts in EC (894 mPt) and EC/EF (528 mPt). The most impacted categories were global warming, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and fossil resource scarcity, with energy use being the primary contributing factor. The emission values were 36, 20.7, and 19.9 kg CO2 eq for EC, EF, and EC/EF, respectively. With the use of a cathode-anode switcher, the water consumption was reduced to 50 %. The energy used by EC, EF, and EC/EF was reported as 617, 352, and 341 MJ, respectively, by a CED analysis, and the adoption of renewable energy would have presented reductions. LCC analysis identified three major cost elements, which were construction (42.6 %), energy (13.4 %) and depreciation/miscellaneous (10.3 %). Ultimately, EC/EF was recognized as the eco-friendliest and most sustainable solution, which will be of significance for the industrial wastewater treat­ ment industry.