Premium
Influence of an aerobic selector on copper and hexavalent chromium biosorption by activated sludge
Author(s) -
Alkan Ufuk,
Cindoruk Sıddık,
Taşdemir Yücel,
Colby Christopher
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.688
Subject(s) - biosorption , activated sludge , freundlich equation , chemistry , hexavalent chromium , adsorption , chromium , nuclear chemistry , metal ions in aqueous solution , metal , copper , pulp and paper industry , sewage treatment , environmental engineering , sorption , environmental science , organic chemistry , engineering
The influence of an aerobic selector on biosorption of Cu and Cr(VI) by activated sludge was studied. In‐vitro batch adsorption tests were performed using sludge harvested from bench‐scale activated sludge systems. Metal biosorption by activated sludge was rapid with equilibrium usually reached within an hour. Adsorption behaviour closely followed a Freundlich isotherm model. Experimental data suggested that an aerobic selector increased the biosorption of the metal ions by activated sludge, confirming observations by others in a similar study but with different heavy metals. Freundlich isotherms indicated that the biosorption capacity of activated sludge was increased by 15% for Cu and 30% for Cr(VI). Activated sludge from both systems had a greater biosorption capacity for Cu than for Cr(VI). The effects of pH and sludge concentration were also investigated. The results indicate that these parameters may influence the biosorption characteristics of activated sludge. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry