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Natural Volcanic Tephra for Phosphate Removal from Rural Micro-polluted Wastewater

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Abstract

A kind of volcanic tephra (VT) as abundant natural mineral in China was studied for phosphate (P) removal from rural micro-polluted wastewater. Physical and chemical properties of VT were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The uptake of P decreased with the increase of the initial solution pH, and the optimum solution pH required for maximum P removal rate was 2.0. Zeta potential analyses were carried out to vividly describe the surface charges at different solution pH. The equilibrium data were both fitted well for Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Thermodynamic parameters including changes in standard enthalpy (ΔH 0), standard entropy (ΔS 0), and standard Gibbs free energy (ΔG 0) were calculated. The removal of P was predominantly based on ion-exchange process when the initial solution pH in the range of 2.0–6.0. A given dose of VT can be recycled for eight times. VT minerals were attempted for P removal from rural micro-polluted wastewater collected in Shanghai, China containing 50 mg L−1 P, and the removal rate was determined to be nearly 100 % with the capacity of 0.5 mg P/g VT minerals. All our results indicated that VT could be a promising choice for P removal from micro-polluted wastewater in rural area with the distinct advantages of being low cost and environmentally benign.

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Acknowledgments

Financial supports were provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20405010), the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (Grant No. SK-CN-05-08, 06–13), and the National Ocean Public Benefit Research Foundation (Grant No. 201005026).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Rm. 506, Bldg. of Environ. Sci., 800 Dongchuan Rd., Shanghai, 200240, China

    Yanwen Su, Wenzhong Zhang, Fang Xu & Weiwei Chen

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  1. Yanwen Su
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  2. Wenzhong Zhang
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  3. Fang Xu
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  4. Weiwei Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fang Xu.

Additional information

Yanwen Su and Wenzhong Zhang contributed equally to this work.

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Fig. S1

Effect of VT dosage on P removal (initial P concentration = 50 mg L−1, contact time = 6 h, agitation speed = 200 rpm, temperature = 25 °C, initial solution pH = 2, and varying VT dosages of 0, 0.60, 0.75, 1.00, 1.50, 3.00, and 6.00 g/10 mL) (DOCX 222 kb)

Figure S2

Effect of contact time on P removal under dynamic and static condition (initial P concentration = 50 mg L−1, VT dosage = 1.00 g/10 mL, agitation speed = 200 rpm and 0 rpm, respectively, temperature = 25 °C, and initial solution pH = 2) (DOCX 222 kb)

Figure S3

Plots of ln(C s /C e ) vs. C s . Initial solution pH = 2.0 (●, 303 K; ■, 313 K) and initial solution pH = 6.0 (○, 303 K; □, 313 K) (DOCX 222 kb)

Figure S4

Reusability of VT after 8 cycles of P removal (initial P concentration = 50 mg L−1, VT dosage = 1.00 g/10 mL, agitation speed = 200 rpm, contact time = 10 h, and initial solution pH = 2) (DOCX 222 kb)

Figure S5

P removal from real rural wastewater at different concentrations of NO3 − (initial P concentration = 10 mg L−1, VT dosage = 1.00 g/10 mL, contact time = 10 h, and initial solution pH = 2 and 6, respectively) (DOCX 222 kb)

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Su, Y., Zhang, W., Xu, F. et al. Natural Volcanic Tephra for Phosphate Removal from Rural Micro-polluted Wastewater. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 2258 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-2258-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-2258-5

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