Kinetic and equilibrium studies of phosphorous adsorption: Effect of physical and chemical properties of adsorption agent

Abstract

Several materials, with and without thermal treatment, were used as phosphorus removal agents. Surface area, porosity and chemical composition were determined for each material aiming to study their effect on phosphorus removal. While, calcined waste eggshell (ES) and natural crushed minerals (calcium (M1), iron (M2) and aluminum (M3)) were not sensible to pH variation, zeolites, USY and HY, exhibited a maximum removal above pH 4. Laboratory adsorption experiments (72 h of equilibrium at 22 degrees C and 200 rpm) using the different materials revealed a phosphorous removal ability of 26.48, 0.14, 0.14, 0.11, 0.12 and 0.10 mgP g(-1) for ES, USY, HY, M1, M2 and M3, respectively. The adsorption revealed to be chemical for USY and HY and physical for the remaining materials. ES demonstrated to efficiently reduce the phosphorus concentration present in wastewater.