Conductive-diamond electrochemical oxidation processes are promising technologies for treating biorefractory industrial wastes
with organic loads below 20000 mg L-1. In this work, electrochemical oxidation of a real industrial pharmaceutical wastewater
with conductive-diamond anodes has been studied. The electrolyses were carried out in discontinuous operation mode under
galvanostatic conditions, using a bench-scale plant equipped with a single compartment electrochemical flow cell. For optimizing
the process and studying the interaction between the operating conditions, different experiments were performed by modifying
the current density (from 25 to 180 mA cm-2) and recirculation flow rate (from 105 to 565 ml min-1) with residence times
between 0 and 570 minutes. The corresponding contribution of these two operative parameters on COD removal and its evolution
versus residence time was studied. A time of 98 minutes was obtained in order to evaluate the highest influence of operative
parameters. For this time, the current density was found to have a considerable positive effect, while the flow rate proved to be a
statistically insignificant variable. ANOVA test reported significance for three of the five involved variables and Response
Surface Methodology technique was used to optimize COD removal.