ABSTRACT
Removal of toxic metals (iron and manganese) ions from aqueous solution by adsorption was studied. Batch tests were used to study the removal of each metal either as a single component or both metals as multicomponent. The adsorbents used are low cost materials namely; palm fruit bunch and maize cobs. The adsorption isotherms proved the favor ability of the adsorbent used. Removal of iron ion by adsorption on palm fruit bunch and maize cobs was in the range of 80-57%, and for magnesium ion in the range of 79-50% for initial concentration ranged between 1 and 10 ppm. In case of mixture of both metals, removal of iron from the mixture was in the range 79-54% and for magnesium was in range of 76-54%.
Subject(s)
Iron/chemistry , Iron/isolation & purification , Manganese/chemistry , Manganese/isolation & purification , Water Purification/methods , Adsorption , Biodegradation, Environmental , Cost Control , Fruit , Temperature , Zea maysABSTRACT
It has become a mere fact that the ever expanding growth of the population and the development of technology in our societies are causing damaging pollution problems in our natural waters. Biological treatment processes have become a major technology for wastewater treatment whether municipal or industrial. The Rotating Biological Contactors (RBC's) Process is a relatively new biological wastewater treatment process compared to other biological treatment processes, such as activated sludge and trickling filters. Although the biological mechanisms for wastewater treatment for RBC's and activated sludge are the same, there are some differences relative to fixed bed growth versus fluidized bed growth systems. The performance of RBC's is affected by a number of design parameters such as flow rate, rotational speed, detention time, temperature of wastewater, disc surface area, submerged disc depth, and organic loading. The work presented here gives a description, analysis and discussion of the effect of organic loading which is a paramount parameter of the performance of RBC's. The study shows the tremendous effect of organic loading on the performance of RBC's, through experimental as well as analytical techniques. It also correlates the performance at each stage of the process to the organic loading which is a major design factor for the manufacturing system of RBC's.
