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Effectiveness of Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide for heavy metal removal from mine wastewater and sludge volume reduction

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Abstract

Health hazards from heavy metal pollution in water systems are a global environmental problem. Of similar concern is sludge that results from wastewater treatment due to unsatisfactory sludge management technology. Therefore, the effectiveness of using Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide in the removal of heavy metals from mine wastewater was tested and compared with that of calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2], which is a common treatment method for heavy metal removal. Initially, the mine wastewater contained cations of the heavy metals iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb). The Mg–Al-layered double hydroxides were able to remove 371, 7.2, 121, and 0.4 mg/L of these pollutants, respectively, using the co-precipitation method. The removal of these metals is most effective using 0.5 g Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide (Mg/Al molar ratio 4) and 20 min of shaking. Zn was removed by the formation of Zn(NO3)(OH)·H2O and Zn5(NO3)2(OH)8 when LDH, Mg/Al molar ratios of 4 and 2, respectively, were used. Similarly, Fe, Cu, and Pb were removed by the formation of Fe–Al-layered double hydroxide, Cu2(OH)3·NO3 and Pb4(OH)4(NO3)4, respectively. While Ca(OH)2 is also capable of reducing the heavy metal concentrations below the Japanese recommended values, this analysis shows that using 0.5 g Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide is a better treatment condition for mine wastewater, because it generates lower sludge volumes than 0.1 g of Ca(OH)2. The measured sludge volume was 1.5 mL for Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide and 2.5 mL for Ca(OH)2, a nearly twofold further reduction.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the financial support from the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Nationals Corporations (JOGMEC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-07 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

    M. Tamzid Rahman, T. Kameda, S. Kumagai & T. Yoshioka

  2. Department of Chemistry, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh

    M. Tamzid Rahman

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  1. M. Tamzid Rahman
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  2. T. Kameda
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  3. S. Kumagai
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  4. T. Yoshioka
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Correspondence to T. Kameda.

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Editorial responsibility: Binbin Huang.

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Rahman, M.T., Kameda, T., Kumagai, S. et al. Effectiveness of Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide for heavy metal removal from mine wastewater and sludge volume reduction. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 263–272 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1385-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1385-0

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