Steel Slag and Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Grains as Low-Cost Adsorbents to Remove Cd 2+ and Pb 2+ in Wastewater: Effects of Mixing Proportions of Grains and Liquid-to-Solid Ratio

Gajanayake Mudalige Pradeep Kumara and Ken Kawamoto
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Gajanayake Mudalige Pradeep Kumara: Department of Biosystems Technology, Faculty of Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka
Ken Kawamoto: Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama 3388570, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: This study investigated the applicability of industrial by-products such as steel slag (SS) and autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) grains (<0.105, 0.105–2, 2–4.75 mm) as low-cost adsorbents for simultaneous removal of Cd 2+ and Pb 2+ in wastewater. A series of batch adsorption experiments was carried out in single and binary-metal solutions of Cd 2+ and Pb 2+ by changing the mixing proportions of SS and AAC grains. In addition, the effect of the liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S) on the removal of Cd 2+ and Pb 2+ in multi-metal solution was examined. Results showed that SS grains had a high affinity with Cd 2+ in the single solution, while AAC grains had an affinity with Pb 2+ . In the binary solution, the mixtures of SS and AAC grains removed both Cd 2+ and Pb 2+ well; especially, the tested adsorbents of SS+AAC [1:1] and SS+AAC [1:4] mixtures achieved approximately 100% removal of both metals. Based on the results in the multi-metal solutions, the metal removal % and selectivity sequence varied depending on the mixed proportions of SS and AAC grains and L/S values. It was found that the SS+AAC [1:1] mixture of SS and AAC grains showed 100% removals of Cd 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cu 2+ , Ni 2+ , and Zn 2+ simultaneously at L/S = 10 and 60.

Keywords: industrial by-products; steel slag (SS); autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC); heavy metals; metal adsorption; selectivity sequence; wastewater (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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