The optimum conditions for the electrochemical generation of ferrate were analysed using a laboratory scale electrochemical reactor and using NaOH as the electrolyte with a reaction duration of 25 min. The criteria used for comparison are the current efficiency and the energy consumption. The conducted experiments in this project showed that the optimum current density of the 10 studied applied currents was 36 A/m(2); the optimum concentration of NaOH of the four different studied concentrations was 16 M and the optimum carbon content (C%) of the three studied steels was 0.11%. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.