Effect of silica and pH on two arsenic adsorbants

INOR 202

Teresia Moller, tmoller@solmetex.com, Paul Sylvester, psylvester@solmetex.com, and Tina Moura. SolmeteX Inc, 50 Bearfoot Road, Northborough, MA 01532
Arsenic can be removed cost-effectively from drinking water using hydrous iron oxide based adsorptive media. The uptake of arsenic on these media is strongly influenced by the silica content and pH of the water; the capacity for arsenic decreases as both pH and silica increase. These effects have been investigated on two hybrid inorganic-organic arsenic adsorbants. Static As(V) capacities were determined by plotting isotherms as a function of silica concentration and pH. It was found that in a test solution containing 30 mg/L SiO2 and a batch factor of 8000, the capacity for As(V) decreased from 9.2 mg/g, at pH 7.2, to just 1.6 mg/g at pH 9.0 (an 83 % decrease) for a media called npRio-1. For the other media (ArsenXnp) the respective values were 5.3 mg/g and 2.8 mg/g, a 47 % decrease. It is clear that the effect of pH is significantly stronger on npRio-1. This difference can partially be explained by the isoelectric points of each media, which were 6.5-7.5 for npRio-1 and 8.5-9 for ArsenXnp. The decrease in arsenic capacity with increasing silica content is far greater at higher pH values. At pH 7.2, increasing the silica content from 0 to 30 mg/L caused a decrease in capacity from 13.8 mg/g to 9.2 mg/g for npRio-1, a decrease of only 33 %. However, at a pH of 8.8, the capacity decreased from 10.1 mg/g to 1.6 mg/g, a decrease of 84 %. Again, this effect seemed to be less on the ArsenXnp, the values being 5.4 mg/g in 0 mg/L at pH 9.0, and 2.8 mg/g at 30 mg/L, a 48 % decrease. The effects of both silica and pH on the performance of hydrous iron oxide based media have to be considered in regard to media life when designing water treatment systems.

 

Environmental Aspects of Inorganic Chemistry
7:00 PM-10:00 PM, Sunday, August 19, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Sci-Mix

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007