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Resource utilization of hazardous Cr/Fe-rich sludge: synthesis of erdite flocculant to treat real electroplating wastewater

Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering volume 20, pages 509–519 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Cr/Fe-bearing sludge is a hazardous solid waste, produced at mass production in smelting, plating and surface finishing industries. Such waste is commonly treated by chemical detoxification and safety landfill, whereas only a few Cr-rich sludge is recycled as a tanning reagent. In this study, a novel route was developed to recycle Cr/Fe-bearing sludge as erdite-bearing flocculant for wastewater treatment. Results showed that two sludges were irregular aggregates, one of which contained 1.6 wt.% Cr (short for LS) and the other contained 4.2 wt.% Cr (HS). After hydrothermal treatment, stable Cr(III)/S-bearing product was formed from the Cr(VI) reduction in the sludges. Conversely, erdite was generated in nanorod form with diameter and length of 200 nm and 0.5–1 μm from LS, respectively, whereas grew radially to 1.5–2.5 μm for HS. The two erdite-bearing products were spontaneously hydrolysed to Fe/S-bearing flocs and showed similar performance in the treatment of real electroplating effluent with 91.55, 1.94 and 0.25 mg/L of Zn, Ni and Cr, respectively. For instance, by adding 1 g/L product of LS, the release of Cr from the products did not occur, and the residual Zn, Ni and Cr in the effluent was 0.25, 0.65 and 0.17 mg/L, respectively, which met the discharge standard of the electroplating industry. With the two converted products, the residual Zn/Ni/Cr concentrations were apparently lower than those of the raw sludges and other common reagents (e.g. polymeric ferric sulphate, activated carbon and diatomite). Thus, such erdite-bearing products could serve as a flocculant and then be applied in electroplating wastewater treatment.

Highlights

  • Aggregated sludge was converted to nanorod erdite-bearing flocculant;

  • Hydrothermal detoxication of Cr(VI) as Cr(III) also occurred;

  • Nanorod flocculant was superior for Zn/Ni/Cr removal compared with PFS;

  • Cr(III) was stable in the flocculated deposit without release to wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Programme of China (2019YFE0117900) and partly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52070038 and 51878134) and the Innovative Research Team Program of Jilin Province (No. 20210509043RQ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Technology Innovation Centre for Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Water Quality Protection, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117, China

    Chen Yu, Zhang Ying, Liu Yanwen, Zhu Suiyi, Liang Dongxu, Sun Tong, Xie Xinfeng & Wang Xianze

  2. School of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Changchun Institute of Technology, Changchun, 130012, China

    Chen Yu

  3. School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Xie Xinfeng

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  1. Chen Yu
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Yu, C., Ying, Z., Yanwen, L. et al. Resource utilization of hazardous Cr/Fe-rich sludge: synthesis of erdite flocculant to treat real electroplating wastewater. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 20, 509–519 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-022-00796-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-022-00796-0

Keywords

  • Cr/Fe-rich sludge
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Erdite
  • Flocculant
  • Resource utilisation

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