Bark, a suitable biosorbent for the removal of uranium from wastewater – From laboratory to industry

Abstract

This paper shows that natural materials such as barks can successfully replace synthetic resins for industrial purposes. Evaluated in batch conditions, biosorption of uranium on suitably prepared Douglas fir barks took place in less than 10 min and appeared to be optimum at pH>4. The biosorption process of uranium (uranyl form UO 2 2+ ) was characterized in the optimal physico-chemical conditions and could be mathematically modeled as a Langmuir isotherm. With a maximum uranium specific uptake q max value of 1.16 meq.g -1 (138 mgU.g -1 ) it was found that the sorption capability of Douglas fir barks was at least five times higher for uranium than for other heavy metals such as lead. Adsorption of uranium contained in water leached from a former uranium mine was then monitored over a one-month period in a laboratory-scale chromatography column. The fixation capacity remained fairly constant throughout the whole testing period. Water radioactivity decreased from 1500 mBq. L

Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies on the removal of U(VI) by low cost agricultural waste

“…In many developing countries, the lowcost, high sorption capacity and easy regeneration of agricultural biowastes has focused attention on their use for the remediation of heavy metals from wastewater. Biosorbents including citrus waste [3], bark [7], tea waste [8], pine sawdust [9], wood powder, wheat straw [10] and activated carbon prepared from olive stones [11] have shown potential for U biosorption.…”

Heavy metals removal in aqueous environments using bark as a biosorbent

“…For the batch tests, usually smaller granulometries were used, but in column tests, larger particles were preferred to prevent clogging of the column (Jauberty et al 2011). The adsorption was higher with smaller particles because of the higher surface area, but the adsorption might also have been favored by the mineral content of smaller particles.…”

“…Different bark granulometries ranging from 150 lm (Gundogdu et al 2009) to 4 mm (Jauberty et al 2011;López-Mesas et al 2011) were used in batch adsorption tests. For the batch tests, usually smaller granulometries were used, but in column tests, larger particles were preferred to prevent clogging of the column (Jauberty et al 2011).…”

Removal of Chromium (Vi) in Aqueous Environments Using Cork and Heat-Treated Cork Samples From Quercus Cerris and Quercus Suber

“…Tree barks have been considered for this purpose, such as pine, Douglas fir, eucalypts, teak (Sarin and Pant 2006;Oh and Tshabalala 2007;Kehinde et al 2009;Jauberty et al 2011), as well as cork (Villaescusa et al, 2002). Cork is one important bark component in some species, namely in cork oak (Quercus suber).…”