Abstract
The role of electromagnetic field (EMF) in enhancement of copper (II) removal from industrial wastewater effluent has been investigated. The rate of copper (II) removal from industrial wastewater by cementation on rotating iron cylinder subjected to a magnetic field was studied to demonstrate the effect of EMF on the rate of cementation. The results proved the enhancement of copper removal by utilization of EMF; however the effect of decreasing the thickness of boundary layer is more dominant than the effect of EMF. The rate of mass transfer was correlated by the equation sh=2.3 Re0.95 Sc0.33 .Another correlation provides the relation between mass transfer coefficient and the other operating variables namely: intensity of EMF, initial copper concentration and rotation speed of iron cylinder k=exp(1.4*10-3*N+1.2*10-3*Co+4.1*10-4*H –0.5). This work illustrates that the enhancement of copper recovery in presence of EMF is due to the induced motion of paramagnetic Fe+n in the solution and is limited in the range of cylinder rotation speed of 300~900 rpm. It was evident that power consumption due to utilization of magnetic field is less by 3% than that without utilization of EMF.