title: Extraction and retrieval of potassium from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).
abstract: Studies were carried out on extraction and retrieval of potassium from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). The stem and leaf were subjected to 13 treatments. The highest rate of K removal following HCl treatment was 69.7% K. Most effective removal of suspended organic substances, Ca2+ and Mg2+ were achieved at pH approximately 13, when 88.0% of K remained in filtrate. Maximum K in precipitate following this step was achieved with tartaric acid additions at n(C4H6O6)/n(K+) of 1.72 when precipitating at 4 degrees C for 3h, which resulted in 72.3% of K removal from the solution. Over the entire process, 44.3% of K in the dried stem-leaf sample of water hyacinth was retrieved in the form of KC4H5O6. This process demonstrated the potential for use of water hyacinth as a resource of potassium to produce potassium salts and provide a valuable end use for the plant, which could be highly invasive in aquatic ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Subtropical Agriculture and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Wenbing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Duanwei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Liangfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Shuijiao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Zhaohua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D031806:Eichhornia / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry; D011188:Potassium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011188:Potassium