A design of a vermiculite column adsorber for the removal of lead from water

Mini-column techniques were employed to determine the mass transfer coefficient for lead adsorption onto vermiculite. Variation of the mass transfer coefficient with flow rate, particle size of sorbent, and influent lead concentration were studied. Multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis showed that the mass transfer coefficient varied as the 0.43 power of the liquid flow rate and inversely as the 0.272 power of particle diameter of the vermiculite, but was independent of the influent concentration of lead. Different parameters of a fixed bed column design for the removal of lead by vermiculite were determined using the data from the batch sorption study. The performance of the liquid bed column in removing lead was in close agreement with predicted performance using the batch isotherm data.