Three-dimensional electrochemical system (3DES) for coking wastewater treatment: a comprehensive review

Coking wastewater is complex and highly toxic, with conventional treatment technologies often struggling with low degradation efficiency, long treatment durations, high costs, and limited resilience to variable wastewater characteristics. Three-dimensional electrochemical system (3DES) has emerged as a promising alternative for treating coking wastewater. By incorporating particle electrodes, 3DES expands the reaction surface area, enhancing mass transfer and improving pollutant degradation efficiency. Although previous studies have focused on the treatment performance of 3DES, a comprehensive analysis covering its mechanisms, electrode materials, operational parameters, and hybrid treatment strategies for coking wastewater treatment is still lacking. This review aims to fill that gap by systematically examining the advantages of 3DES in improving degradation efficiency, enhancing biodegradability through electrochemical-microbial interactions, and addressing current limitations. Additionally, it highlights future research directions, including optimizing particle electrode materials, exploring underlying mechanisms, developing kinetics models, and scaling up industrial applications. This review offers valuable insights into the sustainable and effective treatment of industrial wastewater from the coking industry. (Figure presented.)