Feasibility of electrodeionization for phosphate removal

In this study, electrodeionization (EDI) in bath mode was tested regarding its capability to remove phosphate (PO43-) ions from aqueous solutions. Various parameters affecting the phosphate removal rate via EDI were determined. The results showed that the phosphate removal rate depends on the applied voltage and that the optimum potential was 15 V, corresponding to a phosphate removal rate of 97%. Changing the stream rate of the phosphate-containing solution also affected the phosphate removal rate. Changing the pH of the phosphate-containing solution from 2 to 6 enhanced the phosphate removal rate from 80% to 97%. The presence of Cl-, NO3-, and SO42- ions did not affect the phosphate removal rate. The highest mass transfer coefficient (k) of phosphate was calculated to be 7.85 x 10-4 m/s, and the flux was calculated to be 3.72 x 10-4 mol/m2 s1 at a flow velocity of 3 L/h. Thus, the study results showed the feasibility of EDI as an alternative membrane process for removing phosphate from aqueous solutions.Practitioner PointsElectrodeionization was employed for the removal of phosphate.The removal of phosphate exhibited dependence on applied potential.EDI demonstrated a remarkable 97% efficiency in phosphate removal.The pH of the solution was found to influence the removal rate. Electrodeionization is a membrane-based process that uses an electric field to remove ions from water with high efficiency. In this work, EDI was used to remove phosphate ions and 97% of the phosphate was removed. This makes EDI a useful technology for water treatment applications where phosphate removal is required.imageThis study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey [TUBITAK program code: 2209-A].Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey [TUBITAK] [2209-A