摘要：An experimental study was conducted in a batch reactor with Al electrodes; the impacts of five operational variables on the removal of Pb and Co from aquatic environments and optimizing them in electrocoagulation process was investigated. RSM and CCD were utilized to design the experiments, determine the effects of variables on the removal of these metals and developing the model. Results showed that quadratic equation is an appropriate model for predicting the removal of metals. The optimal removal efficiency of Pb at the pH of 8.5, current density of 2.57 mA/cm2 , initial Pb density of 76 mg/L, reaction time of 50 min, and electrode distance of 1.02 cm was 99.9%. Meanwhile, the optimal removal efficiency of Co at the pH of 8.77, current density of 2.98 mA/cm2 , initial Co density of 31 mg/L, reaction time of 45.4 min, and electrode distance of 0.84 cm was 100%. Moreover, R2 and Adj.R2 were (0.98 and 0.94) and (0.86 and 0.76) for Pb and Co, respectively, indicating the good fitness of the data to the quadratic equation. Electrocoagulation can effectively remove both metals from aquatic environments, and RSM is an appropriate tool for experimental design and evaluation of variables in the metal removal.
