Removal of Cu and Cr from an industrial effluent using a packed-bed column with algae Gelidium-derived material

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential of algal waste from the agar extraction industry, immobilized in a polymer, and the algae Gelidium itself, the raw material of agar extraction, to remove Cu(II) and Cr(III) from industrial effluents. The study involved a Cu(II) bearing effluent and the mixture of this effluent with an effluent containing Cr(VI), previously reduced to Cr(III). The two effluents were collected from metal plating plants, and then filtered and diluted before the biosorption studies. Biosorption results were compared with those obtained from pure Cu(II) and Cu(II)/Cr(III) solution adsorption experiments. Three consecutive adsorption (≈ 50 mg Cu(II)/l)-desorption (0.1 M HNO 3 ) cycles were carried out with algae Gelidium and two with the composite material, for the Cu(II) effluent. The biomass uptake capacity remained almost constant and close to the obtained for adsorption from pure Cu(II) solution, suggesting that the biomass lifetime was long enough to be used in a continuous industrial process. In the biosorption from Cu(II)/Cr(III) mixtures it was observed that Cr leave the column after the residence time, suggesting that the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) was not completely achieved. Cr(VI) speciation in aqueous solution produces negatively charged species, that do not bind to the negatively charged carboxylic groups on the biosorbent surface and a low breakthrough time is obtained. An "overshoot" was observed for the Cu(II) concentration, suggesting that Cr(III) has a higher affinity to the binding sites than Cu(II).

Is biosorption suitable for decontamination of metal-bearing wastewaters? A critical review on the state-of-the-art of biosorption processes and future directions

“…However, biosorption is mostly lab-restricted owing to lack of application studies. The diverse types of biomass which excelled in the removal of metals from aqueous solutions under controlled laboratory conditions did not show much potential in practical applications (Vijayaraghavan et al, 2006;Kumar et al, 2008;Vilar et al, 2009;El-Sayed and El-Sayed, 2014). To overcome this practical limitation of the biosorption technology, few researchers altered the characteristics of biosorbents and investigated their potential under real-world conditions by employing metal solutions, which were either simulated effluents or real wastewaters (Pethkar and Paknikar, 1998;Akhtar et al, 2004).…”

Removal of heavy metals using different polymer matrixes as support for bacterial immobilisation

“…Common matrices used to support organisms (either of natural or synthetic origin) include hydrogels [15], activated alumina and charcoal [16], kaolin [2], polyacrylonitrile [17], alginate and pectate.…”

Laboratory Comparison of Four Iron‐Based Filter Materials for Water Treatment of Trace Element Contaminants

“…Arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), and/or selenium (Se) are often found together in leachate at waste disposal sites that store fly ash from coal-burning power plants (Daniels and Das, 2006;Huggins et al, 2007;Shah et al, 2007); agricultural drainage water discharge in the San Joaquin Valley, California (Ong and Tanji, 1993;Ong et al, 1995;Ong et al, 1997); groundwater beneath chromated copper arsenate (CCA) wood treatment facilities or landfills where discarded CCA-treated wood is deposited (Guan et al, 2011;Khaodhair et al, 2000;Moghaddam and Mulligan, 2008); surface runoff and shallow groundwater recharge to streams within areas with wildfire-affected soils (Wolf et al, 2010); and coalbed methane production waters (McBeth et al, 2003). Cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and/or lead (Pb) are commonly present together in industrial wastewaters such as acid mine drainage (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1994); textile factory effluents (Manzoor et al, 2006); effluent discharge from paint manufacturing plants (Gondal and Hussain, 2007); and metal plating facility effluents (Vilar et al, 2009).…”