title: Heavy metal extraction from PCB wastewater treatment sludge by sulfuric acid.
abstract: Heavy metals contaminated wastewater sludge is classified as hazardous solid waste and needs to be properly treated to prevent releasing heavy metals to the environment. In this study, the wastewater treatment sludge from a printed circuit board manufacturing plant was treated in a batch reactor by sulfuric acid to remove the contained heavy metals. The effects of sulfuric acid concentration and solid to liquid ratio on the heavy metal removal efficiencies were investigated. The experimental results showed that the total and individual heavy metal removal efficiencies increased with increasing sulfuric acid concentration, but decreased with increasing solid to liquid ratio. A mathematical model was developed to predict the residual sludge weights at varying sulfuric concentrations and solid to liquid ratios. The trivalent heavy metal ions, iron and chromium were more difficult to be removed than the divalent ions, copper, zinc, nickel, and cadmium. For 5 g/L solid to liquid ratio, more than 99.9% of heavy metals can be removed from the sludge by treating with 0.5M sulfuric acid in 2h.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Tatung University, 40 Chungshan North Road, 3rd Sec, Taipei 10451, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Chung
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kuan
authors.forename: I-Hsien
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jia-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chern
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations; D004581:Electronics; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013464:Sulfuric Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D007220:Industrial Waste; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012722:Sewage; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C033158:sulfuric acid