Deyi Wu

Removal of trivalent chromium from aqueous solution by zeolite synthesized from coal fly ash

The capability of 14 zeolites synthesized from different fly ashes (ZFAs) to sequestrate Cr(III) from aqueous solutions was investigated in a batch mode. The influence of pH on the sorption of Cr(III) was examined. ZFAs had a much greater ability than fly ash to remove Cr(III), due to the high cation exchange capacity (CEC) and the high acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) of ZFAs. The mechanism of Cr(III) removal by ZFAs involved ion exchange and precipitation. A high-calcium content in both the fly ashes and ZFAs resulted in a high ANC value and, as a result, a high immobilization capacity for Cr(III). The pH strongly influenced Cr(III) removal by ZFAs. Inside the solubility range, removal of chromium increased with increasing pH. Hydroxysodalite made from a high-calcium fly ash had a higher sorptive capacity for Cr(III) than the NaP1 zeolite from medium- and low-calcium fly ashes. On the other hand, at pH values above the solubility range, the efficiency of chromium removal by the ZFAs approached 100% due to the precipitation of Cr(OH)3 on the sorbent surfaces. It is concluded that ZFAs and high-calcium fly ashes may be promising materials for the purification of Cr(III) from water/wastewater.

Adsorption of phosphate from water by easily separable Fe3O4@SiO2 core/shell magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with hydrous lanthanum oxide.

Hydrous lanthanum oxide was loaded onto the surface of Fe3O4@SiO2 core/shell magnetic nanoparticles to obtain an easily separable adsorbent (abbreviated as Fe-Si-La) for efficient separation of phosphate from water. Fe-Si-La was characterized with XRF, XRD, TEM, specific surface area and magnetization and their performance for phosphate removal was investigated. The Fe3O4@SiO2 core/shell structure was confirmed and the hydrous lanthanum oxide was successfully loaded onto its surface. The newly developed adsorbent had magnetization of 51.27emu/g. The Langmuir adsorption capacity of phosphate by Fe-Si-La reached 27.8mg/g by loading only 1mmol lanthanum per gram of magnetite. The adsorption was fast; nearly 99% of phosphate could be removed within 10min. The removal of phosphate was favored within the pH range 5.0-9.0. The adsorption on Fe-Si-La was not significantly influenced by ionic strength and by the coexistence of the anions of chloride and nitrate but sulfate, bicarbonate and humic acid showed slightly greater negative effects. Phosphate removal efficiency of higher than 95% was attained for real effluent of a wastewater treatment plant when the dose of adsorbent was >0.2kg/ton. The results showed that adsorbed phosphate could be nearly completely desorbed with NaOH solution for further use. In conclusion, Fe-Si-La is a promising adsorbent for the removal and recovery of phosphate from water.

Green synthesis of a novel hybrid sorbent of zeolite/lanthanum hydroxide and its application in the removal and recovery of phosphate from water

The traditional process of zeolite synthesis from coal fly ash produces large amount of waste alkaline solution, besides zeolite product. A novel hybrid sorbent, which was composed of zeolite and lanthanum hydroxide (La-ZFA), was produced by using soluble lanthanum chloride to react with waste alkaline solution after the traditional process. This study investigated the capability of phosphate removal by La-ZFA. The sorbent has a high phosphate removal capacity, with a sorption maximum of 71.94 mg/g, according to the Langmuir model. The removal of phosphate by La-ZFA performs well at a wide pH range, reaching>95% from pH 2.5 to pH 10.5 when initial P concentration<100 mg/L. Release of OH(-) during the interaction of phosphate with La-ZFA was observed. The formation of the monoclinic LaPO4 phase was identified by XRD analysis. The uptake of phosphate by La-ZFA was explained on the basis of the adsorption mechanism of the ligand exchange process. The sorbed phosphate could be recovered by hydrothermal treatment in 3M NaOH at 250°C, with a simultaneous regeneration of La-ZFA. Repeated sorption-desorption tests indicated that regenerated La-ZFA could be reused for phosphate removal. Therefore, synthesis of La-ZFA could impart additional function of phosphate removal to original zeolite, with the effective utilization of waste alkaline solution.

Factors affecting the sorption of trivalent chromium by zeolite synthesized from coal fly ash

This research was initiated to determine the effects of different constituents and properties of zeolite synthesized from fly ash (ZFA) on Cr(III) sorption. The uptake of Cr(III) by ZFA was influenced greatly by pH, increasing with the increase in pH. The pH was controlled mainly by calcium-related components (especially CaCO3 and free CaO) and zeolite components in ZFAs. Sorption maximum of Cr(III) (Qm), determined by a repeated batch equilibration method, ranged from 22.29 to 99.91 mg/g for the 14 ZFAs. The Q(m) value correlated significantly with Ca-related components. The correlation coefficients were 0.9467, 0.5469, 0.7521, and 0.9195 for total Ca, CaCO3, CaSO4, and f.CaO, respectively. The Qm value was also closely related to cation-exchange capacity (r=0.6872) and specific surface area (r=0.7249). Correlation coefficients of Qm with dissociated Fe2O3 and Al2O3 were much higher than those of total Fe and total Al contents, respectively. It was suggested that, in ZFAs, zeolite and iron oxide acted as ion exchanger and adsorbent for Cr(III), respectively, while Ca components elevated the pH of the reaction system and consequently promoted ion exchange and adsorption and caused the surface precipitation of chromium hydroxide.

Reproductive toxicity of dietary copper to a saltwater cladoceran, Moina monogolica daday

In the present study, the chronic toxicity of dietary copper to Moina monogolica Daday was investigated. Microalgal growth inhibition tests were conducted for 96 h with the green algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa exposed to copper. The 96-h median effective concentration (95% confidence interval) was 509.12 (388.68-629.56) microg/L. Then, C. pyrenoidosa was exposed for 96 h to a control and to seven dissolved copper concentrations. Cellular copper concentration accumulated in a dose-dependent manner and was plotted against cell density. These algae were used as food in a 21-d bioassay with M. monogolica in seawater to which no dissolved copper was added. Brood size was not reduced in the first brood, but significant reductions at all algal-exposure copper concentrations (44.78-817.17 microg/L) were observed in all subsequent broods, with increasing magnitude in each brood. Neither longevity nor number of broods per female was significantly affected, even at the highest copper exposure, though both endpoints did show a consistent downward trend with increasing copper exposure. Total reproduction, brood size, and net reproductive rate were decreased significantly in all dietary copper exposures (algae exposed to 44.78-817.17 microg/L). In contrast, the intrinsic rate of natural increase was reduced significantly only with algae exposed to greater than 619.27 microg/L, most likely because of the heavy influence of early reproduction on this metric. Because cell density in algal cultures decreased with increasing copper concentrations, it is possible that changes in the nutritional content of the algal diet could have played a role in causing the observed changes in reproduction of M. monogolica.

Hydrous iron oxide modified diatomite as an active filtration medium for phosphate capture.

A simple method to functionalize diatomite with hydrous iron oxide was attempted and its performance as a new active filtration material to remove and recover phosphate from water was investigated under varying solution conditions. The Langmuir phosphate adsorption capacity increased from 0.6 mgP/g for raw diatomite to 4.89, 14.71, 25.02 mgP/g for hydrous iron oxide modified diatomite (HIOMD), depending on the amount of iron loaded. Loading of hydrous iron oxide caused the increase in true and bulk density and a decline in filtration rate, but to a lesser extent. It was shown that the HIOMD product with suitable iron content could retain a good filtration performance with a greatly increased adsorption capacity for phosphate. The phosphate adsorption increased by decreasing pH and by increasing ionic strength at high pH levels. The adsorption process was interpreted by ligand exchange. Coexisting oxyanions of sulfate, nitrate, citrate, carbonate, silicate and humic acid showed different effects on phosphate fixation but it was presumed that their influence at their concentrations and pH levels commonly encountered in effluent or natural waters was limited, i.e., HIOMD had a reasonably good selectivity. Results in repeated adsorption, desorption and regeneration experiment showed that the adsorbed phosphate could be recovered and the material could be reused after regeneration. The column test showed that HIOMD could be potentially utilized as an adsorption filtration medium for phosphate removal and recovery from water.

Phosphate removal from water by a novel zeolite/lanthanum hydroxide hybrid material prepared from coal fly ash

This study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of the hybrid adsorbent, which was synthesized from coal fly ash and was composed of lanthanum hydroxide and zeolite (La-ZFA), for phosphate removal from water. Long-term repeated adsorption tests for 30 days showed that the maximum removal capacity of the material reached 66.09 mg P/g. The fractionation of adsorbed phosphorus indicated that phosphate immobilized by La-ZFA was quite irreversible and was dominated by HCl-P fraction. It was suggested that the immobilization of phosphate was mainly attributed to lanthanum hydroxide and was slightly influenced by coexistence of other anions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, and HCO3−). At a La/P molar ratio between 1.5:1 and 2.0:1, a nearly complete removal (above 98%) of phosphate could be achieved. La-ZFA also exhibited great performance for removing phosphate from lake water (97.29%) as well as the effluent from wastewater treatment plant (97.86%), respectively. In addition, based on the results of the present study, it was believed that La-ZFA could be a potential material for phosphate removal in practical application.

Treatment of chromite ore processing residue by pyrolysis with rice straw.

Chromite Ore Processing Residue (COPR) is the byproduct of chromate production process, which contains a large amounts of Cr(VI). The present work developed a new technique to treat COPR, and the process involved mixing the COPR with rice straw followed by pyrolysis. It was found that the gaseous organic fraction generated during pyrolysis of straw was beneficial to Cr(VI) reduction. In the study, process variables, such as the amount of straw added to COPR, heating temperature and particle size, were systematically varied, and their influences on the Cr(VI) reduction in COPR were all investigated. After pyrolysis, Cr(VI) decreased greatly, from 3400 for untreated COPR to less than 30 mg kg(-1) for treated COPR at 600 degrees C.

Impact of pyrolysis process on the chromium behavior of COPR.

The effect of pyrolysis process with sewage sludge on the chromium behavior of chromite ore processing residue (COPR) was examined in this study. The behavior of chromium was characterized in term of chromium oxidation test, pH-static leaching tests, column leaching test and sequential extraction test. As a sequence of pyrolysis process, the Cr(VI) in COPR was effectively reduced from 5057 mg kg(-1) for untreated COPR to 8.6 mg kg(-1) for treated COPR at temperature over 600 degrees C, which is far below the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulatory limit of 240 mg kg(-1). As a result, the amount of exchangeable and carbonate-bound Cr fractions, the most mobile for the environment, were largely reduced. At the same time, the amount of the other three Cr fractions which are much less mobile become augmented. pH static test showed that the chromium in the treated COPR at pyrolysis temperature above 400 degrees C was quite stable at pH>7. Column study also indicated that only negligible amount of chromium of the treated COPR at above 600 degrees C can be released by the acid rain.

Remediation of chromite ore processing residue by pyrolysis process with sewage sludge

The present work developed a novel technique to treat chromite ore processing residue (COPR). The process involved mixing the COPR with sewage sludge followed by pyrolysis. The gaseous organic fraction generated during pyrolysis of sludge was beneficial to Cr(VI) reduction. Process variables, such as the amount of sludge added to COPR (sludge-to-COPR (S/C) ratio), heating temperature, reaction time and particle size, were systematically varied, and their influences on the Cr(VI) reduction in COPR were investigated. Cr(VI) content had decreased greatly, from 3384 mg kg(-1) for untreated COPR to less than 30 mg kg(-1) for COPR treated at 600 degrees C.