Pre-concentration and separation of heavy metal ions by chemically modified waste paper gel

Iminodiacetic acid was immobilized on waste paper by chemical modification in order to develop a new type of adsorption gel for heavy metal ions. Adsorption behavior of the gel was investigated for a number of metal ions, specifically Cu(II), Pb(II), Fe(III), Ni(II), Cd(II), and Co(II) at acidic pH. From batch adsorption tests, the order of selectivity was found to be as follows: Cu(II)  Fe(III) > Pb(II) > Ni(II)  Co(II) > Cd(II). Column tests were carried out for pairs of metal ions to understand the separation and pre-concentration behavior of the gel. It was found that mutual separation of Ni(II) from Co(II) and that of Pb(II) from Cd(II) can be achieved at pH 3. Similarly, selective separation of Cu(II) from Cu(II)–Fe(III) and Cu(II)–Pb(II) mixtures at pH 1.5 and 2, respectively, was observed by using this new adsorption gel. In all cases, almost complete recovery of the adsorbed metal was confirmed by elution tests with HCl.     

Removal of fluoride by effectively using spent cation exchange resin

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Spent strongly acidic cation exchange resin was effectively used for the removal of trace concentration of fluoride ions. For this purpose, the...     

Synthesis and characterizations of Zr(IV)-loaded orange waste for effective sequestration of Mo(VI) and W(VI) from water

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - An efficient and environmentally benign biosorbent for Mo(VI) and W(VI) sequestration was developed by loading Zr(IV) ions onto Saponified Orange...     

Phosphorus recovery from secondary effluent and side-stream liquid in a sewage treatment plant using zirconium-loaded saponified orange waste

Zirconium was loaded onto orange waste, a cheap and available agricultural waste in Japan, to investigate the feasibility of its utilization for phosphorus recovery from secondary effluent and side-stream liquid, which contain 5.9 and 68.2 mg/dm³ phosphorus, respectively. The phosphorus removal from side-stream liquid by using zirconium-loaded saponified orange waste (Zr-SOW) gel increased with an increasing solid/liquid ratio, and it was found that Zr-SOW gel showed better performance than zirconium ferrite. The prepared adsorbent was effective for phosphorus removal and exhibited a reasonably high adsorption capacity, twice than that of zirconium ferrite. The secondary effluent was treated in a column packed with Zr-SOW gel, and an dynamic adsorption capacity of 1.3 mol-P/kg was attained. The adsorbed phosphorus from the column was successfully eluted as a concentrated form by using a small amount of 0.2 M NaOH. Throughout the elution process, zirconium was not leaked from the adsorption gel.     

Leaching of heavy metals by citric acid from fly ash generated in municipal waste incineration plants

The leaching behavior of heavy metals from municipal waste incineration (MWI) fly ash was investigated in this study. The leaching process includes two steps, i.e., fly ash was firstly washed with water, and then subjected to citric acid leaching. The main parameters of the washing process such as liquid/solid ratio, washing time, and number of washing were tested. The optimum conditions for water washing were found as follows: washing time 5–10 min, liquid/solid ratio 10:1 (ml:g), and number of washing was twice; under these conditions, 86% Na, 70% K, 12% Ca, 1.2% Al, and 0.5% Pb were removed from the fly ash in the prewashing. From the results of screening tests of leaching lixiviants, citric acid was found to be the most effective leaching agent, taking account of its environmentally benign characteristics. Optimum metal extraction can be achieved with citric acid under the following conditions: pH 3.0, liquid/solid ratio 40 (ml:g), citric acid concentration 0.10 mol/dm³, contact time 20 min at room temperature.     

Leaching of phosphorus from incinerated sewage sludge ash by means of acid extraction followed by adsorption on orange waste gel

Ashes from sewage sludge incineration have a high phosphorus content, approximately 8% (W/W), which indicates a potential resource of the limiting nutrient. Incineration of sewage sludge with subsequent recovery of phosphorus is a relatively new sludge treatment technique. In this article, the leaching of phosphorus by using sulfuric acid as well as hydrochloric acid by means of several batch experiments was presented. At the same time a selective recovery of phosphorus by adsorption was also discussed. The e ects of acid concentration, temperature and time on extraction were studied. The phosphorus leaching increased with the increase in acid concentration and temperature. Kinetic studies showed that the complete leaching of phosphorus took place in less than 4 h. Selective adsorption of phosphorus by using orange waste gel provided a hint for recovery of this natural resource, which eventually could meet the ever-increasing requirement for phosphorus. The overall results indicated that the incinerated sewage sludge ash can be treated with acid to e ciently recover phosphorus and thus can be considered a potentially renewable source of phosphorus.