Arsenic, chromium and mercury removal using mussel shell ash or a sludge/ashes waste mixture.

Different batches of valued mussel shell and waste mussel shell ash are characterised. Shell ash has pH > 12 and high electrical conductivities (between 16.01 and 27.27 dS m(-1)), while calcined shell shows pH values up to 10.7 and electrical conductivities between 1.19 and 3.55 dS m(-1). X-ray fluorescence, nitric acid digestion and water extractions show higher concentrations in shell ash for most parameters. Calcite is the dominant crystalline compound in this ash (95.6%), followed by aragonite. Adsorption/desorption trials were performed for mussel shell ash and for a waste mixture including shell ash, sewage sludge and wood ash, showing the following percentage adsorptions: Hg(II) >94%, As(V) >96% and Cr(VI) between 11 and 30% for shell ash; Hg(II) >98%, As(V) >88% and Cr(VI) between 30 and 88% for the waste mixture. Hg and As desorption was <5% for both shell ash and the waste mixture, while Cr desorption was between 92 and 45% for shell ash, and between 19 and 0% for the mixture. In view of that, mussel shell ash and the mixture including shell ash, sewage sludge and wood ash could be useful for Hg(II) and As(V) removal.

Mercury removal using ground and calcined mussel shell.

We determined mercury retention on calcined and ground mussel shell, in presence and absence of phosphate, using batch and stirred flow chamber experiments. In batch experiments the calcined shell exhibited higher Hg adsorption, with good fitting to Freundlich equation (R2: 0.925-0.978); the presence of phosphate increased Hg adsorption; mercury desorption was 13% or lower, diminishing up to 2% under the presence of phosphates. In stirred flow chamber experiments calcined shell retained more Hg than ground shells (6300 vs. 4000-5200 micromol/kg); Hg retention increased an additional 40% on calcined shell and up to an additional 70% on ground shells when phosphates were present; mercury desorption was quite similar in all shell types (20%-34%), increasing up to 49%-60% in ground shells when phosphates were present. The higher Hg adsorption on calcined shell would be related to its calcite and dolomite concentrations; mercury-phosphate interactions would cause the increase in Hg retention when phosphates are present. Data on Hg desorption suggest that Hg retention was not easily reversible after batch experiments, increasing in the stirred flow chamber due to convective flow. Calcined and ground mussel shells could be recycled removing Hg from water, with the presence of phosphates in solution improving efficacy.

Copper release kinetics from a long-term contaminated acid soil using a stirred flow chamber: effect of ionic strength and pH.

The effect of pH and ionic strength on copper release in a long-term Cu-polluted soil was studied using a stirred flow chamber. The presence of Ca(2+) and Na(+) was also evaluated. More copper was released as the ionic strength increased, and it was significantly higher in the presence of Ca(2+) than in the presence of Na(+). The maximum amount of Cu that could be released under experimental conditions increased logarithmically as the ionic strength increased, and the release rate parameters were not significantly correlated with ionic strength values. The maximum amount of Cu that could be released was similar for solutions with pH values between 5.5 and 8.5. For solutions with a pH value below 4.5, the amount of Cu released increased exponentially as the pH decreased. The release rate parameters and Cu release pattern were affected by pH, especially for more acidic solutions (pH values of 2.5 and 3.5).

Kinetics of Hg(II) adsorption and desorption in calcined mussel shells.

The potential use of calcined mussel shells to purify water contaminated with mercury was evaluated. The Hg(II) adsorption and desorption kinetics were studied in batch-type and stirred-flow chamber experiments. The adsorption/desorption experiments revealed some differences between the batches of shells used. The batch of shells that displayed the greatest capacity to adsorb Hg(II), via a highly irreversible reaction, also contained more Fe and Al than the other batches. The results of the stirred-flow chamber experiments indicated a high degree of irreversibility in the process of Hg(II) adsorption in the mussel shell, and that Hg(II) was rapidly retained. The results of these experiments also revealed that the efficiency of depuration differed depending on the length of time that the system was used: when the system was operated for 55 min, depurating 162 mL of inflowing water g(-1) mussel shell, a 90% reduction in the initial concentration of Hg(II) was obtained; use of the system for 90 min, depurating 265 mL water g(-1) mussel shell, produced a 75% reduction in the initial Hg(II), and use of the system for 162.5 min, depurating 487 mL of water g(-1) mussel shell, resulted in a 50% reduction in the initial Hg(II).