Effects of electroflocculation-membrane process on concentration characteristics of organic matter in domestic wastewater and its methane production potential

QIU Junjie; WU Siyuan; YANG Yuan; CHEN Rong; HU Yisong

doi:10.13205/j.hjgc.202512004

Volume 43 Issue 12

Dec. 2025

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QIU Junjie, WU Siyuan, YANG Yuan, CHEN Rong, HU Yisong. Effects of electroflocculation-membrane process on concentration characteristics of organic matter in domestic wastewater and its methane production potential[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(12): 28-37. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202512004

Citation:

QIU Junjie, WU Siyuan, YANG Yuan, CHEN Rong, HU Yisong. Effects of electroflocculation-membrane process on concentration characteristics of organic matter in domestic wastewater and its methane production potential[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(12): 28-37. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202512004

Citation:

QIU Junjie, WU Siyuan, YANG Yuan, CHEN Rong, HU Yisong. Effects of electroflocculation-membrane process on concentration characteristics of organic matter in domestic wastewater and its methane production potential[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(12): 28-37. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202512004

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Effects of electroflocculation-membrane process on concentration characteristics of organic matter in domestic wastewater and its methane production potential

doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202512004

QIU Junjie¹,
WU Siyuan¹,
YANG Yuan^{1,2
,
,},
CHEN Rong^1,2,
HU Yisong^1,2

1. Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology (Ministry of Education), School of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China;
2. International Science and Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Non-Conventional Water Resources Development and Utilization, Xi'an 710055, China

Received Date: 2025-01-09
Accepted Date: 2025-04-23
Rev Recd Date: 2025-03-24

Available Online: 2026-01-09

Abstract

Abstract

By concentrating low-strength domestic wastewater， a sewage concentrate with high organic matter concentration can be obtained， and chemical energy can be recovered through anaerobic digestion （AD）. In this study， based on the fraction analysis of real domestic wastewater， a direct membrane filtration （DMF） process and an electroflocculation-membrane （EFM） process were constructed to concentrate domestic wastewater， and after 1 concentration cycle， the DMF process obtained a concentrate with chemical oxygen demand （COD） concentration of 1760 mg/L， and the EFM process obtained a concentrate with COD concentration of 2668.5 mg/L. Both DMF and EFM process were able to effectively retain organic matter， and the percentage of particles with particle size larger than 40 μm was increased by about 30.1% and 21.8%， respectively， compared with domestic wastewater. The EFM process also facilitated the conversion of particles in the dissolved state and the colloidal state to the suspended state， and significantly improved the concentration effect of total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP）， with the concentration efficiency reaching 23.9% and 22.6%， respectively. Due to the iron anodes in the electroflocculation process， the EFM concentrate also introduced iron species such as Fe₂O₃， Fe₃O₄， and Fe_2.95（PO₄）₂（OH）₂， and Fe（II）/Fe（Ⅲ） were mainly present in the amorphous form. The results of the biochemical methane potential （BMP） test showed that the DMF concentrate possessed a higher methanogenic potential （268.58 to 281.76 mL CH₄/g COD）， while the EFM concentrate showed stronger methanogenic activity only in the fractions with particle sizes less than 5 μm and 0.45 μm， with methanogenic potentials （P₀） of （328.71±10.85） and （317.84±10.20） mL CH₄/g COD， respectively. The energy consumption of the EFM system for treating 1 m³of domestic wastewater was 298.20×10^-4 kW·h/m³， higher than that of DMF （20.04×10^-4 kW·h/m³）， but its net energy production capacity after coupling with AD amounted to 0.208 kW·h/m³， which was about 1.5 times higher than that of DMF coupling with AD （0.081 kW·h/m³）， and indicating that the EFM system had a significant wastewater energization advantage. This study provides a useful technical reference and theoretical basis for wastewater treatment and resource recovery.
- domestic wastewater,
- sewage concentration,
- membrane filtration,
- electroflocculation,
- anaerobic digestion

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References(29)

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