Anodic oxidation of oleate for wastewater treatment

Abstract

The anodic conversion of oleate was carried out on RuO2 type DSA electrode under potentiostatic control. It was used as a pre-treatment of the anaerobic degradation of oleate, which is a long chain fatty acid abundant in wastewaters. Electrochemical treatment was found to improve the anaerobic biodegradation of lipidic wastewaters. In batch experiments, pre-treated oleate was converted to methane without any lag phase, whereas the onset of oleate mineralization was delayed by 90 h. Additionally, the rate of methane production was higher in the pre-treated oleate batch assays than in the oleate ones.