Research on selenium pollution in natural waters is continuous and discouraging. In this study, coagulation/precipitation was applied with the use of Fe(II), Fe(III), and poly-aluminum chloride (PACl) salts for Se(IV) removal at concentration range 10–100 μg Se(IV)/L that is commonly found in drinking waters. Prehydrolyzed Fe(III)-FeCl3 delivered the best uptake capacity (Q10 = 8.9 mg Se(IV)/g Fe(III) at pH 6) at the residual concentration equal to the drinking water regulation limit of 10 μg/L. This was much higher than the efficiencies achieved when applying the other coagulants: i.e., Q10 = 7.3 mg Se(IV)/g Fe3+-FeClSO4, Q10 = 6.4 mg Se(IV)/g prehydrolyzed Fe(III)-Fe2(SO4)3 and 0.7 mg Se(IV)/g Al-PACl at pH 6, and Q10 = 0.45 mg Se(IV)/g Fe(II) at pH 7.2. Comparing the different sources of Fe(III), it is apparent that Se(IV) uptake capacity is inhibited by the presence of SO42− in crystal structure of prehydrolyzed Fe2(SO4)3, while prehydrolyzed FeCl3 favors Se(IV) uptake. Temperature effect data showed that coagulation/precipitation is exothermic. In techno-economic terms, the optimal conditions for Se(IV) removal are coagulation/precipitation at pH values lower than 7 using prehydrolyzed Fe(III)-FeCl3, which provides a combination of minimum sludge production and lower operating cost.
The present study aims at comparing the two most promising water treatment technologies for selenium removal. A techno‐economical comparison of Se(IV) uptake between the laboratory synthesized iron oxy hydroxide (FeOOH/2.5) with the highest positive surface density of 3.25 mmol [OH−]/g and adsorption capacity 4.3 μg Se(IV)/mg FeOOH/2.5 at pH 7, and coagulation/precipitation with the use of Fe(III) presenting an uptake capacity 3.2 μg Se(IV)/mg Fe was attempted based on the laboratory scale results. The evaluation showed that coagulation/precipitation treatment appears to be economically advantageous in comparison to adsorption process that was applied in Rapid Small Scale Column Tests (RSSCTs) with the FeOOH/2.5. It must be pointed out that for selection of the optimum removal method, other criteria should also be considered, such as post treatment requirements, water flow, labor cost, and maintenance requirements.
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