Assessing the Electrode Configuration in a Sandbox System for the Removal of Sulfanilamide: A Pilot Study.

Electrochemical oxidation has emerged as an effective and straightforward technology for groundwater remediation. While recent studies have investigated parameters such as current, electrolyte composition, and electrode materials, most have been conducted using small-scale batch or flow reactors, limiting their applicability to real-world conditions. In this study, a pilot-scale sandbox reactor was employed to simulate realistic groundwater conditions and assess the removal of sulfanilamide, a model organic contaminant. Various electrode configurations were systematically evaluated to identify the key operational parameters influencing pollutant removal efficiency, providing insights for practical applications in groundwater treatment. This study proposes three configurations, including a single well with the anode and cathode, a double well with the separated anode and cathode, and an e-barrier with electrodes separately mounted inside a permeable barrier. Single well had the lowest removal efficiency (60%) because cathodic reaction inhibited the anodic oxidation. A double well with a separate anode and cathode can achieve 80% removal efficiency. However, effluent pH can reach up to 13.2, which can adversely impact groundwater. Meanwhile, the e-barrier not only achieved complete removal, but also maintained a neutral pH of 7.0 over 30 days. The e-barriers proved to be the most effective configuration based on their removal efficiency (100%) while yielding an effluent with neutral pH. The energy consumption of the e-barrier was most effective at 1.54 kWh/m

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Declaration of Competing Interest ☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. ☒The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: