Selective removal of aluminum, nickel and chromium ions by polymeric resins and natural zeolite from anodic plating wastewater

Aluminum industry has been well-known for producing enormous volume of wastewater in high concentration of varied heavy metals and toxic substances with wide variation in pH. In this study, selective removal of aluminum, nickel and chromium by polymeric resins (Amberlite IR120, Lewatit TP207) and natural zeolite from aluminum anodic plating process wastewater in varying aluminum concentrations (similar to 10-200 mg/L), very low pH (3-4) and high conductivity (5090-8540 mu S/cm) was evaluated. The wastewater was collected from a factory producing aluminum profiles (Kayseri, Turkey) where anodic oxidation plating is applied. The affinity of adsorbents towards to metals was in order aluminum > nickel > chromium. The kinetic results revealed that sorption of heavy metals onto adsorbent obeys pseudo-second-order model. The experimental data fitted the best to modified Freundlich isotherm. Aluminum uptake by adsorbents was feasible, exothermic and spontaneous by Amberlite IR120 and Lewatit TP207; however, the reaction was endothermic for zeolite.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the selective removal of aluminum, nickel, and chromium from aluminum anodic plating process wastewater using different adsorbents. The results showed that polymeric resins Amberlite IR120 and Lewatit TP207 had good adsorption efficiency for aluminum.