Youn-Jong Park

Applicability of poorly crystalline aluminum oxide for adsorption of arsenate

This study examined the characteristics of arsenate adsorption on poorly crystalline oxide (PCAO) which was obtained from recycling of dry sanding powders (DSP) produced during sanding and sawing process in a decorative interior company. After calcinating DSP at 550°C, poorly crystalline oxide (PCAO) was obtained as an adsorbent. From the batch adsorption experiments, arsenate was completely removed up to the concentration of 10 mg/L by PCAO. The stability of PCAO as an adsorbent was evaluated at pH 7 and found that the arsenate adsorbed on PCAO was stable for 24 h. The predominant interaction between arsenate and PCAO was thought to be a strong chemical bond by spectroscopic analysis. The arsenate adsorption behavior onto PCAO was satisfactorily simulated with MINEQL+, suggesting that arsenate formed inner-sphere complexes with the surface of PCAO by chemisorption. Meanwhile, the presence of competitive anions such as PO4 3−, SO4 2− and CO3 2− decreased somewhat the removal efficiency of arsenate and the effects of competing anions on the adsorption of arsenate were in the order of PO4 3− > SO4 2− > CO3 2− under pH 6. The application of PCAO to the real mine drainage was also carried out. Although the adsorption of arsenic on the PCAO was slightly decreased rather than that removed from synthetic wastewater due to competitive sorption by multiple ions, it was possible to meet the national discharge standard limit with increasing adsorbent concentration.

The application of reused powdered wastes as adsorbent for treating arsenic containing mine drainage

This study examined the potential reuse of powdered wastes (PW) generated during the sanding and sawing process in a local chemical company in Korea with the viewpoint of the recycling these wastes and minimizing the level of contamination. The PW contained 40–60% aluminum hydroxide and 30–45% matrix resin. As a potential adsorbent, the suitability of thermal treated PW to remove arsenic from synthetic and real wastewater was investigated. As a pretreatment process, the reused adsorbent from PW was calcined at 550°C for 3 hrs in a furnace. The calcination characteristics of PW were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and qualitatively by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The major inorganic composition of the calcined PW (CPW) was aluminum oxide with poor crystallinity. The CPW contained well developed meso-pores (0.143 cm3 g− 1) and showed a specific surface area of 234 m2 g− 1. The pH of the zero point charge (pHpzc) of the CPW was determined to be 7.8 by acid-base titration. From the batch adsorption tests, the complete removal of arsenic (up to 20 mg L− 1) was observed with CPW (2 g) at pH ranging from 3.0 to 8.0. However, there was a significant decrease in arsenate adsorption at higher pH. A kinetics study indicated that the uptake of arsenate followed a second-order rate equation. In the presence of sulfate, the removal of arsenate was increasingly affected by the sulfate concentration. The application of CPW to the removal of 4 different real mine drainages was also carried out. Mine drainage contains a relatively high arsenate concentration as well as sulfate. Whilst the amount of arsenic removed from real mine drainage by CPW was slightly lower than that removed from synthetic wastewater due to competitive sorption by multiple ions, the adsorption of arsenate showed rapid removal within 10 min with good removal efficiency, which meets the national wastewater discharge limits. These results suggest that CPW is a good adsorbent for removing arsenic from synthetic and real mine drainage.

Applicability of reused industrial dry sanding powder for adsorption of arsenic.

This study examined the potential reuse of powdered wastes (PW) generated during the sanding and sawing process in a local chemical company in Korea with the viewpoint of the recycling these wastes and minimizing the level of contamination. As the aluminium hydroxide inside the PW could be thermally converted to various types of aluminium oxides depending on the calcination temperature, the adsorptive properties could be changed and it may affect on adsorption ability. Calcination of the PW was performed for 3 h at 550 degrees C, 750 degrees C, and 950 degrees C. From the results, amorphous aluminium oxide was thermally generated by calcinating the PW at 550 degrees C and with further increase of temperature to 950 degrees C, the crystallinity of amorphous aluminium oxide was gradually increased. The physicochemical analysis of calcined powdered wastes (CPW) at various temperatures showed that more developed porosity was noted in the CPW as the calcinations temperature increased, whereas surface area was significantly decreased from 175.5 m2 g(-1) to 46.5 m2 g(-1). The removal efficiency of arsenate on the CPW decreased as the calcinations temperature increased from 550 degrees C to 950 degrees C. The CPW550 exhibited the highest adsorption capacities toward arsenate over pH range of 2-8 and showed a complete removal of the arsenate (10.0 mg L(-1)) within the first 10 min. Adsorption kinetic studies showed that the rate of arsenic adsorption on the CPW decreased with the increase of the calcination temperature. When the maximum adsorption capacity of arsenic onto the CPW was calculated by Langmuir equation, the CPW550 has the highest value as 43.9 mg g(-1).

Effect of co-existing copper and calcium on the removal of As(V) by reused aluminum oxides

Among the various heavy metals, arsenic is frequently found in abandoned mine drainage and the environmental fate of arsenic in real aqueous solutions can be highly dependent on the presence of co-existing ions. In this study, removal of arsenate through adsorption on the reused aluminum oxide or through precipitation was investigated in a single and in a binary system as a function of pH and concentration. Different removal behaviors of arsenate were observed in the presence of different cations as well as a variation of the molar ratios of arsenate to cations. Co-operative effects on arsenate removal by precipitation in solution occurred with an increase of copper concentration, while a decrease of arsenate removal resulted in increasing calcium concentration. It was observed that the arsenate removal in the presence of calcium would be highly dependent on the molar ratios of both elements.