Abstract
This study investigated the removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals from aqueous solutions supported on chemically treated fly ash. The coal fly ash was supplied by the electric power station in Krakow, Poland. There are plenty of studies showing the utilization of fly ash as a low-cost adsorbent for wastewater containing heavy metals or dyes. Adsorption and immobilization of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on fly ash is a relatively new method but it is a very promising one. In this study, the adsorptive removal of diclofenac, ketoprofen, carbamazepine, bezafibrate, bisphenol A, 17α-ethinyl estradiol and estriol by HCl- and NaOH-treated fly ash was assessed. Chemical treatment of fly ash changed structures of particles and enhanced specific surface areas. HCl-treated fly ash was characterized by the highest BET specific surface area 47.9 m2 g−1 and unburned carbon content 8.1%. Isotherms for all compounds except for 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) and estriol (E3) were linear. Higher linear regression coefficients (R 2) obtained for isotherms of EE2 and E3 show that the Freundlich model better describes their sorption. Adsorption coefficients K d varied between 109.5 (L kg−1) for bisphenol A and 471.5 (L kg−1) for bezafibrate. Freundlich constants (K F) for EE2 and E3 were 62.3 and 119.9 (µg1−1/nL1/nkg−1), respectively. Acid treatment of fly ash increased adsorption of diclofenac, ketoprofen, carbamazepine, bezafibrate and bisphenol A. Comparison of the octanol–water partitioning coefficients (log K OW) with the partitioning coefficients normalized on unburned carbon content (log K UC) revealed similarities but no strong correlation. The increasing of unburned carbon increased sorption of compounds to fly ash.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmed ZT (2012) The quantification of the fly ash adsorption capacity for the purpose of characterization and use in concrete. Dissertation. Michigan Technological University
Ahmed MB, Zhou JL, Ngo HH, Guo W, Thomaidis NS, Xu J (2017) Progress in the biological and chemical treatment technologies for emerging contaminant removal from wastewater: a critical review. J Hazard Mater 323, Part A:274-298
Ali I, Asim M, Khan TA (2012) Low cost adsorbents for the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater. J Environ Manag 113:170–183
Banerjee S, Sharma GC, Chattopadhyaya MC, Sharma YC (2014) Kinetic and equilibrium modeling for the adsorptive removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions on of activated fly ash (AFSH). J Environ Chem Eng 2:1870–1880
Cretescu I, Soreanu G, Harja M (2015) A low-cost sorbent for removal of copper ions from wastewaters based on sawdust/fly ash mixture. Int J Environ Sci Technol 12:1799–1810
Czuma N, Zarębska K, Baran P (2016) Analysis of the influence of fusion synthesis parameters on the SO2 sorption properties of zeolites produced out of fly ash. In: E3S Web conf, vol 10, p 00010
Dutta BK, Khanra S, Mallick D (2009) Leaching of elements from coal fly ash: assessment of its potential for use in filling abandoned coal mines. Fuel 88:1314–1323
Franus W, Wdowin M, Franus M (2014) Synthesis and characterization of zeolites prepared from industrial fly ash. Environ Monit Assess 186:5721–5729
Ganiyu SO, van Hullebusch ED, Cretin M, Esposito G, Oturan MA (2015) Coupling of membrane filtration and advanced oxidation processes for removal of pharmaceutical residues: a critical review. Sep Purif Technol 156, Part 3:891–914
Garcia-Rodríguez A, Matamoros V, Fontàs C, Salvadó V (2015) The influence of Lemna sp. and Spirogyra sp. on the removal of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors in treated wastewaters. Int J Environ Sci Technol 12:2327–2338
Golbad S, Khoshnoud P, Abu-Zahra N (2017) Hydrothermal synthesis of hydroxy sodalite from fly ash for the removal of lead ions from water. Int J Environ Sci Technol 14:135–142
Huo P, Lu Z, Wang H, Pan J, Li H, Wu X, Huang W, Yan Y (2011) Enhanced photodegradation of antibiotics solution under visible light with Fe2+/Fe3+ immobilized on TiO2/fly-ash cenospheres by using ions imprinting technology. Chem Eng J 172:615–622
Izquierdo M, Querol X (2012) Leaching behaviour of elements from coal combustion fly ash: an overview. Int J Coal Geol 94:54–66
Kim AG, Kazonich G, Dahlberg M (2003) Relative solubility of cations in class F fly ash. Environ Sci Technol 37:4507–4511
Krzyżanowski A, Zarębska K, Baran P (2016) Effect of Li+ stabilization on smectite intercalate properties. Colloid J 78:331–334
Kusmierek K, Zarebska K, Swiatkowski A (2016) Hard coal as a potential low-cost adsorbent for removal of 4-chlorophenol from water. Water Sci Technol 73:2025–2030
Madzivire G, Gitari WM, Vadapalli VRK, Petrik LF (2015) Jet loop reactor application for mine water treatment using fly ash, lime and aluminium hydroxide. Int J Environ Sci Technol 12:173–182
Mofarrah A, Husain T, Bottaro C (2014) Characterization of activated carbon obtained from Saudi Arabian fly ash. Int J Environ Sci Technol 11:159–168
Nachiappan S, Gopinath KP (2015) Treatment of pharmaceutical effluent using novel heterogeneous fly ash activated persulfate system. J Environ Chem Eng 3:2229–2235
Nielsen L, Bandosz TJ (2016) Analysis of the competitive adsorption of pharmaceuticals on waste derived materials. Chem Eng J 287:139–147
Nosek K, Styszko K, Gołaś J (2014) Combined method of solid-phase extraction and GC–MS for determination of acidic, neutral, and basic emerging contaminants in wastewater (Poland). Int J Anal Environ Chem 94:961–974
Opriş O, Soran ML, Lung I, Truşcă MRC, Szoke-Nagy T, Coman C (2017) The optimization of the antibiotics extraction from wastewaters and manure using Box–Behnken experimental design. Int J Environ Sci Technol 14:473–480
Pal A, He Y, Jekel M, Reinhard M, Gim KY-H (2014) Emerging contaminants of public health significance as water quality indicator compounds in the urban water cycle. Environ Int 71:46–62
Papageorgiou M, Kosma C, Lambropoulou D (2016) Seasonal occurrence, removal, mass loading and environmental risk assessment of 55 pharmaceuticals and personal care products in a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Central Greece. Sci Total Environ 543, Part A:547–569
Pengthamkeerati P, Satapanajaru T, Chularuengoaksorn P (2008) Chemical modification of coal fly ash for the removal of phosphate from aqueous solution. Fuel 87:2469–2476
Sarbak Z, Kramer-Wachowiak M (2002) Porous structure of waste fly ashes and their chemical modifications. Powder Technol 123:53–58
Sharma A, Srivastava K, Devra V, Rani A (2012) Modification in properties of fly ash through mechanical and chemical activation. Am Chem Sci J 2:177–187
Styszko K, Drobniak A (2015) Adsorption potential of fly ash for xenobiotics removal from water solutions. Ochrona Środowiska 37:25–31
Styszko K, Nosek K, Motak M, Bester K (2015) Preliminary selection of clay minerals for the removal of pharmaceuticals, bisphenol A and triclosan in acidic and neutral aqueous solutions. C R Chim 18:1134–1142
Styszko K, Dudarska A, Zuba D (2016) The presence of stimulant drugs in wastewater from Krakow (Poland): a snapshot. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 97:310–315
Styszko-Grochowiak K, Gołaś J, Jankowski H, Koziński S (2004) Characterization of the coal fly ash for the purpose of improvement of industrial on-line measurement of unburned carbon content. Fuel 83:1847–1853
Swarcewicz MK, Sobczak J, Pazdzioch W (2013) Removal of carbamazepine from aqueous solution by adsorption on fly ash-amended soil. Water Sci Technol 67:1396–1402
Schwarzenbach RP, Gschwend PM, Imboden DM (2003) Environmental organic chemistry. Wiley, New York
Ternes TA, Meisenheimer M, McDowell D, Sacher F, Brauch H-J, Haist-Gulde B, Preuss G, Wilme U, Zulei-Seibert N (2002) Removal of pharmaceuticals during drinking water treatment. Environ Sci Technol 36:3855–3863
Wdowin M, Franus M, Panek R, Badura L, Franus W (2014) The conversion technology of fly ash into zeolites. Clean Technol Environ Policy 16:1217–1223
Acknowledgement
This work was financed by AGH University Grant No. 11.11.210.374.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Ta Yeong Wu.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Styszko, K., Szczurowski, J., Czuma, N. et al. Adsorptive removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products from aqueous solutions by chemically treated fly ash. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 493–506 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1415-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1415-y