| The environmental impacts associated with point source pollution are widespread and affect the public and private sectors. In order to safeguard public health, rigorous efforts have been made by federal and state officials to reduce industrial pollution. The purpose of this experiment was to design a novel control technology that would simulate large-scale industrial operations. The efficacy of hybrid zirconium-granulated activated carbon (Zr-GAC) was investigated in removing the following contaminants: arsenic, chromium, cadmium, and nickel from effluent flow. Adsorption was the process for removing heavy metals. Equilibrium isotherms determined optimum conditions for adsorption. The Freundlich isotherm model was selected in determining adsorption capacity of ZrGAC. The parameters of the experiment were scaled to fit laboratory conditions. Samples were analyzed with atomic absorption spectroscopy, and results indicated Zr-GAC effectively adsorbed chromium at pH 4, and nickel at pH > 7.5. Preliminary data on arsenic indicated greatest adsorption at pH 6.4. |
