The performance of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment system of electrocoagulation assisted adsorption using perforated electrodes to reduce passivation

The integrated electrocoagulation-assisted adsorption (ECA) system with a solar photovoltaic power supply has gained more attention as an effective approach for reduction chemical oxygen demand (COD) from pharmaceutical wastewater (PhWW). In this research, the ECA system was used for the treatment of PhWW. Several operating parameters were investigated, including electrode number, configuration, distance, operating time, current density, adsorption time, and temperature. A current density of 6.656 mA/cm2, six electrodes, a 20-min time, a 4 cm distance, an MP-P configuration, and a 45 °C temperature produced the maximum COD reductions, where the operating cost of conventional energy was 0.273 $/m3. The EC, adsorption, and combination of EC and adsorption processes achieved efficient COD reductions of 85.4, 69.1, and 95.5%, respectively. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich isotherm fit the data of the endothermic adsorption process. Therefore, it was found that the combination processes were superior to the use of these processes in isolation to remove COD.

Dual modifications of chitosan with PLK for amputation of cyanide ions: Equilibrium studies and optimization using RSM

The aim of the study is to characterize and hierarchically modify chitosan using partially lateritized khondalite (PLK) rock. PLK is a metamorphic rock rich in mineral oxides and is not commercialized thus, treated as a mining reject. Chitosan was sequentially altered to Chitosan-PLK (Ch-PLK) and Chitosan-PLK-Epichlorohydrin (Ch-PLK-ECH) and both the materials were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, EDX, XRD, XRF and BET surface area analysis. The adsorbents were used for removal of cyanide ions from aqueous solution using batch adsorption experiments. The experiments were performed varying operational parameters and were optimized using RSM. The conditions optimized by RSM were carried out, more than 90 % of CN^- adsorption was observed. The isotherm and kinetics studies have shown that the adsorption process fitted well with Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo second order kinetics. Using Langmuir isotherm, the maximum adsorption capacities of Ch-PLK and Ch-PLK-ECH towards cyanide ions at 30 °C were found to be 23.98 mg g^-1 and 65.27 mg g^-1 respectively. Thermodynamic studies described that adsorption process was spontaneous, enthalpy-driven over entire temperature range. Column studies established that the adsorbents may be applicable to large volume of samples. The adsorbents were tested for regeneration for 5 adsorption-desorption cycles suggesting reusability of the materials.

Effects of wood vinegar on properties and mechanism of heavy metal competitive adsorption on secondary fermentation based composts

In this study, secondary municipal solid waste composts (SC) and wood vinegar treated secondary compost (WV-SC) was prepared to investigate the capability for single-heavy metals and multi-metal systems adsorption. The adsorption sequence of WV-SC for the maximum single metals sorption capacities was Cd (42.7mgg^-1) > Cu (38.6mgg^-1) > Zn (34.9mgg^-1) > Ni (28.7mgg^-1) and showed higher than that of SC adsorption isotherm. In binary/quaternary-metal systems, Ni adsorption showed a stronger inhibitory effect compared with Zn, Cd and Cu on both SC and WV-SC. According to Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models, as well as desorption behaviors and speciation analysis of heavy metals, competitive adsorption behaviors were differed from single-metal adsorption. Especially, the three-dimensional simulation of competitive adsorption indicated that the Ni was easily exchanged and desorbed. The amount of exchangeable heavy metal fraction were in the lowest level for the metal-loaded adsorbents, composting treated by wood vinegar improved the adsorbed metals converted to the residue fraction. This was an essential start in estimating the multiple heavy metal adsorption behaviors of secondary composts, the results proved that wood vinegar was an effective additive to improve the composts quality and decrease the metal toxicity.