A Study of Fluoride and Arsenic Adsorption from Aqueous Solution Using Alum Sludge Based Adsorbent

Abstract

An Alum-sludge based adsorbent (ASBA) was synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of alum sludge obtained from settling basin in water treatment plant. ASBA was applied to remove fluoride and arsenic in artificially-contaminated aqueous solutions and mine drainage. The mineralogical crystal structure, composition, and specific surface area of ASBA were identified. The result revealed that ASBA has irregular pores and a specific surface area of 87.25 m(2) g(-1) on its surface, which is advantageous for quick and facile adsorption. The main mineral components of the adsorbent were found to be quartz(SiO2), montmorillonite((Al,Mg)(2)Si4O10(OH)(2) 4H(2)O) and albite(NaAlSi3O8). The effects of pH, reaction time, initial concentration, and temperature on removal of fluoride and arsenic were examined. The results of the experiments showed that, the adsorbed amount of fluoride and arsenic gradually decreased with increasing pH. Based on the results of kinetic and isotherm experiments, the maximum adsorption capacity of fluoride and arsenic were 7.6 and 5.6 mg g(-1), respectively. Developed models of fluoride and arsenic were suitable for the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Moreover, As for fluoride and arsenic, the increase rate of adsorption concentration decreased after 8 and 12 hr, respectively, after the start of the reaction. Also, the thermodynamic data showed that the amount of fluoride and arsenic adsorbed onto ASBA increased with increasing temperature from 25 degrees C to 35 degrees C, indicating that the adsorption was endothermic and non-spontaneous reaction. As a result of regeneration experiments, ASBA can be regenerated by 1N of NaOH. In the actual mine drainage experiment, it was found that it has relatively high removal rates of 77% and 69%. The experimental results show ASBA is effective as an adsorbent for removal fluoride and arsenic from mine drainage, which has a small flow rate and acid/neutral pH environment.