Chromium(III) recovery from tanning wastewater by adsorption on activated carbon and elution with sulfuric acid

Chromium(III) recovery from tanning wastewater by means of adsorption on activated carbon and elution with sulfuric acid was studied. Tests were carried out at laboratory scale on an effluent of industrial origin. Initially, proteinaceous materials and fats were separated via sieving followed by ultrafiltration. The chemical composition of the sample thus precleansed was (in g/L): 1.09 chromium(III); 10.36 sulfate; 11.10 sodium; 9.57 chloride; 0.40 proteinaceous materials; and 0.20 fats. Adsorptions were made at 20, 30, and $40^{\circ}C$, establishing what temperature favored chromium(III) uptake. At $40^{\circ}C$, the maximum cation fixation was 40.2 mg/g, and the lowest content in an equilibrium solution was 3.9 mg/L. As regards sodium, chloride, and sulfate, the concentrations before and after the treatment were similar. Likewise, it was found that protons were also retained, modifying the pH of the liquid medium. Adsorption isotherms were analyzed using the Langmuir, Temkin, and Freundlich models. Finally, the extraction of the adsorbed tanning agent with sulfuric acid was evaluated. A recovery of 96.5% was achieved with 0.9 N at $70^{\circ}C$ (13.23 g/L $Cr^{3+}$; 42.98 g/L sulfate; and 0.40 g/L NaCl).