• Clean Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.75-80
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• 2001

In this study, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) plating wastewater in strong acidic condition was treated by reduction and alkalization. Ferrous sulfate ($FeSO_4$), known to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III) rapidly at acidic pH, was used as a reductant of Cr(VI). The optimum reduction condition of Cr(VI) was observed at iron to chromium dose ratio of 3:1 by mole concentration. The precipitation of Cr(III) as $Cr(OH)_3$, was achieved by the pH adjustment in the limestone aeration bed. The precipitates were removed less than the upper limit of chromium for effluent at pH over 5.0. The continuous removal of Cr(VI) was performed using the process consisting of reduction vessel, limestone aeration bed, and sedimentation tank coupled with metal screen membrane. As pH was maintained around 5.0 in the limestone aeration bed, insoluble chromic hydroxide flocs was formed continuously. Most chromic hydroxide flocs were filtered by the metal screen membrane with 1450 mesh size, and the treated water to meet the upper limits of chromium for effluent (Cr Conc. 0.25~0.90 mg/l) was obtained in 30 minutes. Periodic backwashing decreased the fouling on the membrane rapidly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.203-210
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• 2000

The preparative methods of a chitosan-deposited activated carbon and its characteristics were studied by using three kinds of chitosan with different degree of deacetylation and average molecular weight. The procedure was consisted of the dissolution of chitosan into acid solution, impregnation of activated carbon, agitation, evaporation, and drying. When the chitosan-dissolved acid and its concentration, amounts of chitosan deposited, and agitation conditions were changed, the specific surface area, deposition state on surface, and stability were investigated, and amounts of Cr(VI) adsorbed was measured. In the preparation process, it was proper to agitate the chitosan-dissolved acetic acid solution at room temperature for 1hr. In the deposition of chitosan with low molecular weight, the specific surface area of activated carbon was greatly decreased even at low chitosan loading, but in the case of high molecular weight it was not nearly changed to 10wt% loading. It was known that chitosan was uniformly and physically deposited on activated carbon. The chitosan-deposited activated carbon was stable into the solution over about pH 6. The removal of Cr(VI) was remarkably enhanced by adding the adsorption function of chitosan to the surface of activated carbon with about 5wt% chitosan. It may be therefore used as an adsorbent for removing the pollutants in air and wastewater.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.129-132
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• 2004

A hybrid permeable reactive barriers(hybrid PRBs) composed of Fe(II) PRB, biological PRB and sorptive PRB was investigated to treat groundwater with multiple contaminations. We performed batch, column and pilot tests to determine removal rates and design parameters of each PRB media, and operated two hybrid PRB systems with pilot-scale barriers in series. The pilot test of the hybrid PRB system with the combination of Fe(II), biological media and black shale showed multiple contaminations could be removed in ground water. Nitrate could be treated below 20 mg/L and Cr(VI) was treated down to 0.05 mg/L. TCE was degraded below 0.001 mg/L in system. The hybrid PRB system with a proper combination of PRBs could remediate ground water with multiple contaminations.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2005

Cotton fabric was treated with a reactive anionic agent in order to have anionic sites(-S03-) on it, which made it possible for the fabric to adsorb various cationic materials. In this study, the adsorptivity of various heavy metal ions such as Pb(II), Cd(II), Cr(III), Co(II), Cu(II), Ni (II) and Cr(VI) on the cotton fabrics treated with anionic agent was examined at the various conditions; concentrations of heavy metal ions, pHs of solution, reaction time and temperature. As a result, the adsorptivity of the heavy metal ions on the cotton fabrics treated with the anionic agent was highly increased comparing to that of untreated cotton fabrics. The order of the adsorptivity was as follows: $Pb(II)>Cd(II)>Cu(II)\geqNi(II)\geqCo(II)>Cr(III)\ggCr(VI)$. The adsorption amounts of most heavy metal ions were increased in weak alkaline conditions and were reached to an adsorption equilibrium within 10 ~ 30 minutes. The maximum adsorption ratios of Pb(II) and Cd(II) were respectively 99% and 80% of the initial concentration of heavy metal ions. Therefore the anionized cotton fabrics seem to be utilized as an adsorption fabrics for the removal of heavy metal ions in the waste water.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2005

Ferrous cement hydrates made from hydrating Portland cement doped with Fe (II) were reported to reductively dechlorinate chlorinated organics and to reduce Cr (VI) to Cr (III). In this study, kinetics of nitrate removal by ferrous cement hydrates were investigated. Nitrate removal kinetics were characterized by experimental variables such as cement hydration, amount of cement addition, Fe (II) dose, pH, and byproducts. As a result, hydrated cement showed better performances than non-hydrated cement due to the formation of LDH (layered double hydroxide). Doping of Fe (II) into the cement was found to improve removal efficiency at high pHs by association with Fe (II) sorbed on cement hydrates as a reactive reductant. Reduction of nitrate produced ammonium as a major product, which accounted for 63.5% of the final products, and nitrite (0.15%) as a minor product. These results indicate that the developed media are effective as sorbent/reducing agents in the nitrate removal and the reaction mechanisms of nitrate removal are sorption and reduction.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.95-107
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• 2017

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetic behavior of two toxic heavy metals hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] and mercury [Hg(II)] on mustard oil cake (MOC) was studied. Isotherm of total chromium was of concave type (S1 type) suggesting cooperative adsorption. Total chromium adsorption followed BET isotherm model. Isotherm of Hg(II) was of L3 type with monolayer followed by multilayer formation due to blockage of pores of MOC at lower concentration of Hg(II). Combined BET-Langmuir and BET-Freundlich models were appropriate to predict Hg(II) adsorption data on MOC. Boyd's model confirmed that external mass transfer was rate limiting step for both total chromium and Hg(II) adsorptions with average diffusivity of $1.09{\times}10^{-16}$ and $0.97m^2/sec$, respectively. Desorption was more than 60% with Hg(II), but poor with chromium. The optimum pH for adsorptions of total chromium and Hg(II) were 2-3 and 5, respectively. At strong acidic pH, Cr(VI) was adsorbed by ion exchange mechanism and after adsorption reduced to Cr(III) and remained on MOC surface. Hg(II) removal was achieved by complexation of $HgCl_2$ with deprotonated amine ($-NH_2$) and carboxyl (COO-) groups of MOC.

• Carbon letters
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• v.20
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• pp.10-18
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• 2016

Nanoporous carbon structures were synthesized by pyrolysis of grass as carbon precursor. The synthesized carbon has high surface area and pore volume. The carbon products were acid functionalized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, transmission electron microscopy, and Energy Dispersive X-ray microanalysis. Acid functionalized nanoporous carbon was explored for use in removal of toxic Cr(VI) ions from aqueous media. An adsorption study was done as a function of initial concentration, pH, contact time, temperature, and interfering ions. The experimental equilibrium data fits well to Langmuir isotherm model with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 35.335 mg/g. The results indicated that removal obeys a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and that equilibrium was reached in 10 min. A desorption study was done using NaOH. The results of the present study imply that acid functionalized nanoporous carbon synthesized from grass is an efficient, renewable, cost-effective adsorbent material for removal of hexavalent chromium due to its faster removal rate and reusability.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.152-163
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• 2016

Present study investigates the potential of cassava peel and rubber tree bark for the removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution. Removal efficiency of more than 99% was obtained during the kinetic adsorption experiments with dosage of 3.5 g/L for cassava peel and 8 g/L for rubber tree bark. By comparing popular isotherm models and kinetic models for evaluating the kinetics of mass transfer, it was observed that Redlich-Peterson model and Langmuir model fitted well ($R^2$ > 0.99) resulting in maximum adsorption capacity as 79.37 mg/g and 43.86 mg/g for cassava peel and rubber tree bark respectively. Validation of pseudo-second order model and Elovich model indicated the possibility of chemisorption being the rate limiting step. The multi-linearity in the diffusion model was further addressed using multi-sites models (two-site series interface (TSSI) and two-site parallel interface (TSPI) models). Considering the influence of interface properties on the kinetic nature of sorption, TSSI model resulted in low mass transfer rate (5% for cassava peel and 10% for rubber tree bark) compared to TSPI model. The study highlights the employability of two-site sorption model for simultaneous representation of different stages of kinetic sorption for finding the rate-limiting process, compared to the separate equilibrium and kinetic modeling attempts.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.126-131
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• 1998

Reduction of hexavalent chromium to its trivalent form by leachate microorganisms was studied in batch and bench-scale continuous stirred tank reactor. The inoculum was a culture of microorganisms in leachate and capable of providing up to 90% chromate reduction during 72 h batch assay with $20mg\;Cr(VI)\;L^{-1}$ in minimal media containing different levels of leachate (10 to 60%) and glucose (50 to 200 mM). Addition of glucose increased the efficiency of chromate reduction, but adverse effect was observed with increase of leachate probably due to the competitive inhibition between chromate and sulfate ions. The continuous culture experiment was conducted for 124 days using synthetic feed containing different levels of chromate (5 to $65mg\;L^{-1}$) at room temperature. With a hydraulic retention time of 36 h, chromate reduction efficiency was mostly 100% when Cr(VI) concentrations in the reactor were in the range of 5 to $50mg\;L^{-1}$ Specific rate of Cr(VI) removal was calculated as $3.492mg\;g^{-1}\;protein\;h^{-1}$ during the period of 101~124 days from the start-up which showed 81.2% of average reduction efficiency. The results indicate the potential application of using leachate microorganisms for detoxification of hexavalent chromium in various chromium-contaminated wastewater from landfill or tannery sites.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2014

Three dimensional self-assembled graphene hydrogels were easily fabricated by electron beam irradiation (EBI) using an aqueous solution of wool/poly(vinyl alcohol) and graphene oxide (GO). After exposure to various levels of EBI radiation, the highly porous, self-assembled, wool-based graphene hydrogels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; to determine the gel fraction, degree of swelling, gel strength, kinetics-of-swelling analyses and removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from the aqueous solution. X-ray diffraction results confirmed that EBI played a significantly important role in reducing GO to graphene. The adsorption equilibrium of Cr(VI) was reached within 80 min and the adsorption capacity was dramatically increased as the acidity of the initial solution was decreased from pH 5 to 2. Changes in ionic strength did not exert much effect on the adsorption behavior.