Adsorption kinetics and intraparticulate diffusivities of Hg, As and Pb ions on unmodified and thiolated coconut fiber

As, Hg and Pb are examples of heavy metals which are present in different types of industrial effluents responsible for environmental pollution. Their removal is traditionally made by chemical precipitation, ion-exchange and so on. However, this is expensive and not completely feasible to reduce their concentrations to the levels as low as required by the environmental legislation. Biosorption is a process in which solids of natural origin are employed for binding the heavy metal. It is a promising alternative method to treat industrial effluents, mainly because of its low cost and high metal binding capacity. The kinetics was studied for biosorption experiments using coconut fiber for As (III), Hg (II) and Pb (II) ions adsorption. The specific surface area and surface charge density of the coconut fiber are 1.186×10²⁵ (m²/g) and 5.39 ×10²⁴ (meq/m²), respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be the highest for Pb (II) followed by Hg (II) and As (III). The modification of the adsorbent by thiolation affected the adsorption capacity. Equilibrium sorption was reached for the metal ions at about 60 min. The equilibrium constant and free energy of the adsorption at 30 °C were calculated. The mechanism of sorption was found to obey the particle-diffusion model. The kinetic studies showed that the sorption rates could be described by both pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order models. The pseudo second-order model showed a better fit with a rate constant value of 1.16 × 10^?4/min. for all three metal ions. Therefore, the results of this study show that coconut fiber, both modified and unmodified, is an efficient adsorbent for the removal of toxic and valuable metals from industrial effluents.     

Evaluation of adsorption potential of bamboo biochar for metal-complex dye: equilibrium,kinetics and artificial neural network modeling

Metal-complex dyes are widely used in textile industry, but harmful to the environment and human health due to aromatic structure and heavy metal ions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the adsorption potential of bamboo biochar for the removal of metal-complex dye acid black 172 from solutions. Freundlich model was more suitable for the adsorption process of bamboo biochar than Langmuir isotherm, indicating multilayer adsorption of acid black 172 on a heterogeneous bamboo biochar surface. Adsorption kinetics analysis of pseudo-second-order and Weber–Morris models revealed that intraparticle transport was not the only rate-limiting step. The bamboo biochar exhibited a good adsorption performance even at high ionic strength. Analysis based on the artificial neural network indicated that the temperature with a relative importance of 29 % appeared to be the most influential parameter in the adsorption process for dye removal, followed by time, ionic strength, pH and dye concentration.     

Removal of metal from acid mine drainage (AMD) by using natural zeolite of Nizarneshwar Hills of Western India

The mining industry faces stringent effluent discharge regulations and has acknowledged that it is necessary to look into innovative technologies to recycle considerable amount of effluent rather than discharging into surface water. Effluents from mines give rise to aesthetic unpleasantness. The focus of the investigations was to cope with more stringent effluent discharge regulations and to protect the ecosystem from harmful pollutants in the mine effluents. Copper is one of the heavy metal in the mine systems, which are known to be a harmful element. The present study has been undertaken to investigate a process that might remove Cu(II) from mine waste water by using natural zeolite, such as stilbite, and compared with synthetic resins like CSA-9 and CSA-609D. In this study, natural zeolite was used as a low-cost adsorbent to evaluate its ability to remove heavy metals from acid mine drainage. The zeolite used in this study is the natural clay mineral from the Nizarneshwar Hills of Western India. Three resins tested are CSA-9, natural zeolite–stilbite, and CSA-609D. Batch testing has been conducted to select effective ion-exchange resins for copper removal and to determine effective regenerants for regeneration of exhausted resins. All tests were conducted at bench scale and in batch mode. Three strong acid cation exchangers were evaluated to compare their metal removal capacities. The metal concentration in the effluent was reduced with all resins tested. It was found that, among all the three types of natural zeolite, stilbite shows the highest removal efficiency of copper in every parameter that is considered for evaluating the performance of resins.     

Preparation and characterization of biosorbents and copper sequestration from simulated wastewater

This paper reports the potential of chemically treated wood chips to remove copper (II) ions from aqueous solution a function of pH, adsorbent dose, initial copper (II) concentration and contact time by batch technique. The wood chips were treated with (a) boiling, (b) formaldehyde and (c) concentrated sulphuric acid and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive analysis X-ray. pH 5.0 was optimum with 86.1, 88.5 and 93.9 % copper (II) removal by boiled, formaldehyde-treated and concentrated sulphuric acid-treated wood chips, respectively, for dilute solutions at 20 g L^?1 adsorbent dose. The experimental data were analysed using Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin–Radushkevich and Temkin isotherm models. It was found that Freundlich and Langmuir models fitted better the equilibrium adsorption data and the adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order reaction kinetics. The results showed that the copper (II) is considerably adsorbed on wood chips and it could be an economical option for the removal of copper from aqueous systems.     

Compacted sewage sludge as a barrier for tailing impoundment

The feasibility of compacted sewage sludge serving as a barrier for tailing impoundment was evaluated by the batch test and hydraulic conductivity test with respect to heavy metal retardation and impermeability. The batch test results showed that the effective removal of heavy metals approached 97.8 and 93.4% for Zn and Cd, respectively. Formation of precipitation of oxy(hydroxide) and carbonate minerals was mainly responsible for the attenuation of heavy metals in the early period of the test. Nevertheless, the further removal of heavy metals can be attributed to the sulfate reduction. The hydraulic conductivity test indicated that almost all of the heavy metals contained in simulated acid pore water were retarded by compacted sewage sludge. The hydraulic conductivity of the compacted sewage sludge ranged from 3.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 8.0 × 10⁻⁸ cm s⁻¹, lower than 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ cm s⁻¹, which is required by regulations for the hydraulic barrier in landfill sites. Thus, this study suggested that compacted sewage sludge could be used as a bottom barrier for tailing impoundment.     

Bioremoval of cadmium using a dual-chambered fluidized bed bioreactor: a biofilm-based approach

Cadmium is one of the toxic heavy metals which tend to accumulate in the biome posing threat to the living system. The present study investigated the cadmium removal efficiency by effective cadmium-resistant isolate in a novel dual-chambered horizontal continuous-flow bioreactor. Cadmium-resistant bacterial isolates were obtained from sewage effluent samples and were tested for their maximum tolerable concentration. The isolate VITKKAJ1 was found to be highly resistant to cadmium and exhibited high degree of biofilm formation. The capability of VITKKAJ1 in producing short-chain quorum-sensing molecules (acyl-homoserine lactone) was significantly correlated with the increased production of exopolysaccharides. Substrates such as gravels and alginate beads were packed in the perforated compartments of the bioreactor with a bed height of 15 cm for the adsorption of cadmium. The percentage removal of cadmium with and without biofilm (substrates) was 90.56 and 70.7%, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequencing indicated the isolate to be a representative of Aeromonas diversa (Acc. No. KU560509).     

Isolation and identification of cadmium- and lead-resistant lactic acid bacteria for application as metal removing probiotic

The purpose of the present study was to isolate and identify the metal-resistant lactic acid bacteria from sediments of coastal aquaculture habitats for removal of cadmium and lead from ambience. Collected sediment samples were used to isolate the cadmium- and lead-resistant bacterial colonies by spread plate technique using agar media (De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe) supplemented with cadmium or lead at 50?mg/l. Isolates were identified by bacterial colony polymerase chain reaction and sequencing of 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid. Metal removing probiotic was determined by characterizing the lactic acid yield in culture media, viability in fish intestine, metal-resistant and metal-removal efficiencies. 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing data of five (Cd10, Cd11, Pb9, Pb12 and Pb18) and other all isolates clearly showed 99?% similarities to Enterococcus faecium and Bacillus cereus, respectively. The Pb12 exhibited higher lactic acid yield (180?mmol) than that of the remaining E. faecium strains and excellent viability without pathogenicity; therefore, further study was carried out using Pb12 strain. The selected Pb12 strain showed elevated metal resistant (minimum inhibitory concentrations 120 and 800?mg/l for cadmium and lead, respectively) and removal efficiencies [Cadmium 0.0377?mg/h/g and lead 0.0460?mg/h/g of cells (wet weight)]. From the viability and metal removal points of view, it can be concluded that isolated metal-resistant E. faecium Pb12 strains might be used as potential probiotic strains for removing heavy metals from fish intestinal milieu to control the progressive bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the fish.     

Application of dried plant biomass as novel low-cost adsorbent for removal of cadmium from aqueous solution

Heavy metals are a threat to human health and ecosystem. These days, great deal of attention is being given to green technologies for purification of water contaminated with heavy metal ions. Biosorption is one among such emerging technologies, which utilizes naturally occurring waste materials to sequester heavy metals from wastewater. Cadmium has hazardous impact on living beings; therefore, its removal through green and economical process is an important task. The aim of the present study was to utilize the locally available Portulaca oleracea plant biomass as an adsorbent for cadmium removal from aqueous solution. The biomass was obtained after drying and grinding the portulaca leaves and stem. No chemical treatment was done on the adsorbent so that it remained green in a true sense. Batch experiments were performed at room temperature. The critical parameters studied were effects of pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration and adsorbent dose on the adsorption of cadmium. The maximum adsorption was found to be 72 %. The kinetic data were found to best fit the pseudo-second-order equation. High adsorption rates were obtained in the initial 45 min, and adsorption equilibrium was then gradually achieved in about 100 min. Adsorption increased with increase in pH for a range 2 and 6. The equilibrium adsorption results closely followed both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The values of constants were calculated from isotherms. Results indicated that portulaca plant biomass could be developed as a potential material to be used in green water treatment devices for removal of metal ions.     

Batch and continuous removal of heavy metals from industrial effluents using microbial consortia

Bio-removal of heavy metals, using microbial biomass, increasingly attracting scientific attention due to their significant role in purification of different types of wastewaters making it reusable. Heavy metals were reported to have a significant hazardous effect on human health, and while the conventional methods of removal were found to be insufficient; microbial biosorption was found to be the most suitable alternative. In this work, an immobilized microbial consortium was generated using Statistical Design of Experiment (DOE) as a robust method to screen the efficiency of the microbial isolates in heavy metal removal process. This is the first report of applying Statistical DOE to screen the efficacy of microbial isolates to remove heavy metals instead of screening normal variables. A mixture of bacterial biomass and fungal spores was used both in batch and continuous modes to remove Chromium and Iron ions from industrial effluents. Bakery yeast was applied as a positive control, and all the obtained biosorbent isolates showed more significant efficiency in heavy metal removal. In batch mode, the immobilized biomass was enclosed in a hanged tea bag-like cellulose membrane to facilitate the separation of the biosorbent from the treated solutions, which is one of the main challenges in applying microbial biosorption at large scale. The continuous flow removal was performed using fixed bed mini-bioreactor, and the process was optimized in terms of pH (6) and flow rates (1 ml/min) using Response Surface Methodology. The most potential biosorbent microbes were identified and characterized. The generated microbial consortia and process succeeded in the total removal of Chromium ions and more than half of Iron ions both from standard solutions and industrial effluents.     

Development of modified flyash as a permeable reactive barrier medium for a former manufactured gas plant site, Northern Ireland

A sequential biological permeable reactive barrier (PRB) was determined to be the best option for remediating groundwater that has become contaminated with a wide range of organic contaminants (i.e., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons), heavy metals (i.e., lead and arsenic), and cyanide at a former manufactured gas plant after 150 years of operation in Portadown, Northern Ireland. The objective of this study was to develop a modified flyash that could be used in the initial cell within a sequential biological PRB to filter complex contaminated groundwater containing ammonium. Flyash modified with lime (CaOH) and alum was subjected to a series of batch tests which investigated the modified cation exchange capacity (CEC) and rate of removal of anions and cations from the solution. These tests showed that a high flyash composition medium (80%) could remove 8.65 mol of ammonium contaminant for every kilogram of medium. The modified CEC procedure ruled out the possibility of cation exchange as the major removal mechanism. The medium could also adsorb anions as well as cations (i.e., Pb and Cr), but not with the same capacity. The initial mechanism for Pb and Cr removal is probably precipitation. This is followed by sorption, which is possibly the only mechanism for the removal of dichromate anions. Scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed very small (<1 μm) cubic highly crystalline precipitates on the flyash, although this new crystalline zeolite growth did not occur rapidly enough to enable productive zeolite formation. Surface area measurements showed that biofilm growth on the medium could be a major factor in the comparative reduction of surface area between real and synthetic contaminant groundwaters. The modified flyash was found to be a highly sorptive granular material that did not inhibit microbiological activity, however, leaching tests revealed that the medium would fail as a long-term barrier material.     

Removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions with multi-walled carbon nanotubes: Kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were used successfully for the removal of Copper(II), Lead(II), Cadmium(II), and Zinc(II) from aqueous solution. The results showed that the % adsorption increased by raising the solution temperature due to the endothermic nature of the adsorption process. The kinetics of Cadmium(II), Lead(II), Copper(II), and Zinc(II) adsorption on Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were analyzed using the fraction power function model, Lagergren pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and Elovich models, and the results showed that the adsorption of heavy metal ions was a pseudo-second-order process, and the adsorption capacity increased with increasing solution temperature. The binding of the metal ions by the carbon nanotubes was evaluated from the adsorption capacities and was found to follow the following order: Copper(II) > Lead(II) > Zinc(II) > Cadmium(II). The thermodynamics parameters were calculated, and the results showed that the values of the free energies were negative for all metals ions, which indicated the spontaneity of the adsorption process, and this spontaneity increased by raising the solution temperature. The change in entropy values were positives, indicating the increase in randomness due to the physical adsorption of heavy metal ions from the aqueous solution to the carbon nanotubes’ surface. Although the enthalpy values were positive for all metal ions, the free energies were negative, and the adsorption was spontaneous, which indicates that the heavy metal adsorption of Multi-walled carbon nanotubes was an entropy-driving process.     

河道疏浚底泥堆土镉污染修复技术分析

城市生活垃圾中重金属Cd污染修复是我国亟待解决的环境问题之一。为了确定最佳Cd污染修复技术,探究了多种镉修复技术在河道治理中的适用性。以华东地区城市河道疏浚底泥堆土修复工程为例,对重金属镉污染土壤的修复工艺进行了对比和分析。拟选定土壤稳定化修复技术、土壤淋洗技术和植物修复技术三种修复工艺对受污染土壤进行治理。实验结果表明,稳定化修复技术可以使土壤中镉的浸出率从33.3%降低到14.3%,能有效降低其在环境中的生物毒性,但镉的总量并不会降低;采用柠檬酸和草酸的土壤淋洗技术,能够使镉的去除率达到90.1%和92.4%;相比而言,植物修复技术具有更为突出的高效性、易操作和二次污染少的特点,但修复周期较长。从技术、经济、环境安全等多方面出发,分别对三种修复工艺进行了分析讨论,综合考虑了研究场地的现状和未来规划,最终确定土壤淋洗技术为治理河道底泥堆土镉污染的最佳选择。      

Comparative plant growth promoting traits and distribution of rhizobacteria associated with heavy metals in contaminated soils

The heavy metals at high concentration are generally toxic to the plants for their metabolism and growth; therefore, interactions among metals, rhizosphere microbes and plants have attracted attention because of the biotechnological potential of microorganisms for metal removal directly from contaminated soils or the possible transference of them to the plants. The aim of this study was to compare the relationships between the physiological in vitro characteristics of rhizobacteria isolated from plant metal accumulators and their distribution relating with the heavy metals content in contaminated soils. The results of this study showed that the heavy metals present in the rhizosphere of the plant species analyzed, decrease the microbial biomass and content of heavy metals caused a different distribution of rhizobacteria found. Gram negative rhizobacteria (90 %) and gram positive rhizobacteria (10 %) were isolated; all of them are metal-resistant rhizobacteria and 50 % of the isolated rhizobacteria possess both traits: higher indol acetic acid and siderophore producers. The inoculation with these rhizosphere microorganisms that possess metal-tolerating ability and plant growth promoting activities, can be recommended with a practical importance for both metal-contaminated environment and plant growth promotion.     

Vermiculite bio-barriers for Cu and Zn remediation: an eco-friendly approach for freshwater and sediments protection

The increase in heavy metal contamination in freshwater systems causes serious environmental problems in most industrialized countries, and the effort to find eco-friendly techniques for reducing water and sediment contamination is fundamental for environmental protection. Permeable barriers made of natural clays can be used as low-cost and eco-friendly materials for adsorbing heavy metals from water solution and thus reducing the sediment contamination. This study discusses the application of permeable barriers made of vermiculite clay for heavy metals remediation at the interface between water and sediments and investigates the possibility to increase their efficiency by loading the vermiculite surface with a microbial biofilm of Pseudomonas putida, which is well known to be a heavy metal accumulator. Some batch assays were performed to verify the uptake capacity of two systems and their adsorption kinetics, and the results indicated that the vermiculite bio-barrier system had a higher removal capacity than the vermiculite barrier (+34.4 and 22.8 % for Cu and Zn, respectively). Moreover, the presence of P. putida biofilm strongly contributed to fasten the kinetics of metals adsorption onto vermiculite sheets. In open-system conditions, the presence of a vermiculite barrier at the interface between water and sediment could reduce the sediment contamination up to 20 and 23 % for Cu and Zn, respectively, highlighting the efficiency of these eco-friendly materials for environmental applications. Nevertheless, the contribution of microbial biofilm in open-system setup should be optimized, and some important considerations about biofilm attachment in a continuous-flow system have been discussed.     

The application of diffusion–reaction mixed model to assess the best experimental conditions for bark chemical activation to improve copper(II) ions adsorption

Natural sorbents have been thoroughly assessed to determine their adsorption capabilities to remove pollutants from industrial wastewaters. Among them, pine bark has demonstrated potential for carrying out the removal of contaminants, particularly heavy metals, at the level of traces present in dissolved state. Nevertheless, to move towards the wastewater treatment implementation at large scale, the handling and processing requirements of pine bark to optimise the adsorption of heavy metals must be fully assessed. This research study presents a new mathematical model to evaluate the impact of acid pre-treatment of pine bark on heavy metals adsorption at different pine bark-aqueous solution pulp densities. A diffusion–reaction mixed model was developed and applied to the case study of copper(II) adsorption onto pine bark. The low binding energy inferred from analysing the adsorption isotherms suggested that a diffusive mechanism is governing the whole process. The mixed diffusion–reaction kinetic model indicated that the activation increases the rate at which metal ions are adsorbed, but it reduces the maximum achievable adsorption which in turn restricts its usefulness to relatively high pulp densities (above 10 g/L). The latter constitutes the first step towards optimising the use of bark pine for treating wastewater polluted with heavy metals and for establishing rules for scaling-up the process.     

Biological removal of cadmium by Alcaligenes eutrophus CH34

Some bacteria like the heavy metal resistant Alcaligenes eutrophos CH34strains are able to promote biomineralization, being the biologically induced crystallization of heavy metals. In the presence of heavy metals, this strain may create an alkaline environment in the periplasmic space and outer cell environment appropriate induction of heavy metals resistance mechanisms. In such an environment metal hydroxides are formed together with metal bicarbonates resulting from the carbonates production by the cell. Also metals bind to out cell membrane proteins and the metal hydroxides and bicarbonates precipitate around these nucleation foci inducing further metal crystallization. A pilot-plant was set up in which Alcaligenes eutrophus CH34 were inoculated and reproduced in a composite membrane, based on polysulfone. The membrane is casted on a polyester support. The biological membrane was in continuous contact with nutrients from inside and the other side was in contact with wastewater flow containing 120-mg/l cadmium. Nutrients are used for growth and reproduction of bacteria and for development of bacteria resistance agents against heavy metals. At the effluent side immobilized bacteria induce metal precipitation and metal crystals. A column, which was in continuous contact with treated effluent, was continuously filled with glass bends to which the metal crystals bind and grow. The efficiency for Cd removal was over 99 percent. Cd removal could be recovered from the recuperation column by acid treatment without damaging the bacteria.     

Adsorptive removal of nickel from water using volcanic rocks

This paper presents the results of a study on Ni(II) removal from water by adsorption using abundant and low-cost volcanic rock grains: Scoria (VSco) and Pumice (VPum), which could be used as an alternative approach to remove potentially harmful metals from contaminated water. Basic process characteristics were determined under batch conditions. The maximum adsorption capacities for Ni(II) on VSco and VPum were found to be 980 and 1187 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. These results were obtained at the optimized conditions of pH (5.0), temperature (24.9 °C), contact time (24 h), adsorbent/solution ratio (1:20), particle size (fine) and with the variation of initial concentrations between 0.5 and 50 mg L⁻¹. Competitive adsorption of Ni(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) on the adsorbents present in binary as well as ternary mixtures were also compared with the single metal solution. Thus, given that enough volcanic rock grains are provided, Ni(II) ions could be removed even from a metal ion bearing matrix. A number of available models like Lagergren pseudo-first order kinetics, second-order kinetics, intra-particle diffusion and liquid film diffusion were utilized to evaluate the kinetics and the mechanism of the sorption interactions. The results revealed that the pseudo-second order equation best described the kinetics mechanisms of Ni(II) adsorption although the removal process was found to be complex. Moreover, three adsorption models have been evaluated in order to attempt to fit the experimental data, namely the Langmuir, the Freundlich and the Redlich–Peterson isotherm models. It was found that the first two isotherms most closely described the adsorption parameters.     

Chemical associations of heavy metals and metalloids in contaminated soils near former ore treatment plants: a differentiated approach with emphasis on pHstat-leaching

Application of pH_stat-experiments on soil samples of two heavily contaminated sites in northern Belgium (Flanders) was used to make long-term risk predictions of environmentally relevant heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn, Cr) and arsenic. Implementation of the results of other techniques (sequential extractions and mineralogical research) and geochemical modeling with MINTEQA2 was used to obtain a refined understanding of the geochemical association and the processes that control pH-dependent leaching characteristics of the contaminants. The soil on the first site (a former arsenic refinery in Reppel) was extremely polluted with As, Cu (percentage level), Co and Ni (>0.5%) and leaching of contaminants, which is already alarming, will further increase in the near future by soil acidification. The second site was contaminated with so-called burnt pyrite (sulfuric acid industry) containing high concentrations of Pb, Cu, As and Zn (>0.1%) and a serious threat of metal leaching will manifest if no measures are taken. The kinetics of buffering reactions were evaluated by mathematically fitting of the titration curves. Thereby, two independent proton buffer reactions (rapid and slow) were differentiated and quantified. In the paper, some aspects of the pH_stat-procedure were also reconsidered and evaluated. It was shown that one of the critical parameters, namely the duration of the leaching, needs to be extended to 96 h. A 24-h test was observed to be inadequate in assessing heavy metal release properly.     

Electrokinetic remediation of metal contaminated glacial tills

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation which studied the feasibility of using the electrokinetic process to remediate contaminated clays of glacial origin, otherwise known as glacial tills. An overview of the electrokinetic phenomena, as well as previously performed laboratory and field investigations, is first presented. The methodology of the electrokinetic experiments which were conducted to investigate the removal of metals from a glacial till is then described. A total of 16 experiments were conducted using glacial till samples obtained from a project site near Chicago. Sodium and calcium were used as the surrogate cationic metallic contaminants. These experiments demonstrated that ion transport during the electrokinetic process occurs due to both electro-osmosis and electromigration, but that due to electromigration is significantly higher than that due to electro-osmosis. Unlike other clays such as kaolinite, the glacial till used for this investigation possessed high buffering capacity because of its high carbonate content which prevented the acid front migration from the anode to the cathode during the electrokinetic process. The ion removal efficiency of the electrokinetic process was found to increase when: (1) the voltage gradient applied to the soil was increased, (2) the initial concentration of the contaminants was increased, and (3) the duration of the treatment process was increased. The ion removal efficiency was also greater for smaller ions which possess less ionic charge and when the ions existed independently in the soil as compared to when they coexisted. This investigation suggests that the electrokinetic process has significant potential for remediating glacial tills contaminated with metals. However, the properties of Na and Ca are not representative of contaminants, such as heavy metals, so further investigations are needed.     

Removal of cyanide from aqueous solutions by plain and metal-impregnated granular activated carbons

In this study, the removal of free cyanide from aqueous solutions by activated carbon was investigated. Effects of metal impregnation (Cu and Ag), aeration, and concentrations of adsorbent and cyanide on the rate and extent of the removal of cyanide were studied. The results have shown that the capacity of activated carbon for the removal of cyanide can be significantly improved (up to 6.3-fold) via impregnation of activated carbon with metals such as copper and silver. Silver-impregnated activated carbon was found to be the most effective at the reduction of cyanide level in solution. This appeared to be coupled with its comparatively high metal content after impregnation process where silver (5.07%) could be more readily loaded on activated carbon than copper (0.43%). Kinetics and equilibrium data for cyanide removal by plain and metal-impregnated activated carbons were determined to be consistent with the pseudo second-order kinetics and the Langmuir adsorption isotherms, respectively. Aeration (0.27 l/min) was found to exert a profound effect on the process leading to a 5.5–49.1% enhancement in the performances of plain and metal-impregnated activated carbons. This enhancement could be attributed to the increase in the availability of active sites on activated carbon for adsorption and the catalytic oxidising activity of activated carbon in the presence of oxygen. Practical limiting capacity of plain, copper- and silver-impregnated activated carbons for the removal of cyanide were experimentally determined to be 19.7, 22.4 and 29.6 mg/g, respectively.