Treatment of dye and cadmium solutions using asymmetric kaolin porous tubular support

Kaolin porous support ceramic was prepared from kaolin. The characterization of the porous properties and structure of the support synthesis was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), absorption rate, shrinkage rate and Hg-porosimetry methods. The pore size distribution showed a unimodal pore size distribution with an average pore size of about 0.9 mu m. The reliability of support was measured by filtration tests and removal of heavy metals. Filtration studies using porous tubular supports were performed for solutions containing methylene blue and Evans blue. The study of the liquid filtration and flow through these supports showed that the methylene blue rejection rate was 99% while the Evans blue rate reached 90% for a 90 minute filtration time under a pressure of 2 bar. We beforehand tested the flow rate for each support with distilled water and the results show that the support of kaolin gave a flux for distilled water of 31.0 L/h at the pressure of 2 bar. At a pressure of 3.5 bar an increase in the distilled water flux through the support was observed. The rejection rate of cadmium ions was more significant. A rejection rate of 99.99% using a 10(-4) mol/L solution of this heavy metal for two-hour treatment time was obtained. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.