Removal of heavy metals from acid mine drainage by native natural clay minerals, batch and continuous studies

• Published in: Applied water science 2019-06, Vol.9 (4), p.1-6, Article 97
• Main Authors: Esmaeili, Abbas, Mobini, Mohammad, Eslami, Hadi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acid mine drainage; Acidity; Adsorbents; Adsorption; Aquatic Pollution; Bentonite; Clay; Clay minerals; Clay soils; Comparative Law; Copper; Earth; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Fluorescence; Heavy metal removal; Heavy metals; Hydrogeology; Industrial and Production Engineering; International & Foreign Law; Low concentrations; Metal ions; Mine drainage; Minerals; Nanotechnology; Natural clay minerals; Nickel; Original Article; Private International Law; Sludge; Soil; Soils; Sorbents; Sulfates; Volcanic ash; Volcanic soils; Waste Water Technology; Water Industry/Water Technologies; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; X ray fluorescence analysis; X-ray diffraction; X-ray diffraction analysis; X-ray fluorescence; Zinc
• ISSN: 2190-5487; 2190-5495
• DOI: 10.1007/s13201-019-0977-x

Acid mine drainage (AMD) properties are high acidity, high concentration of sulfate and containing a wide range of heavy metal ions. This study was performed to remove the copper, zinc and nickel from AMD by four native natural clay minerals including bentonite, two types of volcanic ash soil (VAS-I, VAS-II) and red soil using both batch and continuous techniques. The characteristics of adsorbents were investigated by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction analysis. In batch technique, clay minerals adsorbents were used in different dosages. However, in continuous technique one natural clay mineral (volcanic ash soil) was used. Results showed that the order of capacity of adsorption by four types of minerals was: bentonite > red earth > VAS-I > VAS-II. The adsorption affinity order of the metal ions by all sorbents was Ni > Cu > Zn. In continuous technique, the critical concentration ( C / C 0  = 0.1) of copper, zinc and nickel in the flow rate 0.8 mL/min was 350, 160 and 170 min, respectively. Therefore, fixed-bed column experiments showed that volcanic ash soils have the characteristics of simplicity of operation, little sludge production, suitability for low concentrations, flexibility and excellence for continuous and bath operations.