title: Use of bauxite residue (red mud) as a low cost sorbent for sulfide removal in polluted water remediation.
abstract: Sulfide is an important pollutant in aqueous systems. Sulfide removal from polluted waters is required prior to discharge. Red mud (RM) is a solid waste of bauxite processing that is rich in reactive iron oxides and consequently has the potential to be used to remove sulfide from aqueous systems. A series of experiments was undertaken using raw and sintered RM to remove sulfide from waters. RM was highly efficient at sulfide removal (average 75% sulfide removal at initial concentration of ∼5 mg L(-1), with 500 mg L(-1) RM addition) due to both physical adsorption (high specific area) and chemical reaction (with amorphous Fe). Sintered RM, which has a lower surface area and lower mineral reactivity, was much less efficient at removing sulfide (∼20% removal under equivalent experimental conditions). Furthermore, concomitant metal release from raw RM was lower than for sintered RM during the sulfide removal process. The results showed that raw RM is a potentially suitable material for sulfide removal from polluted waters and consequently could be used as a low cost alternative treatment in certain engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China E-mail: yqsheng@yic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China E-mail: yqsheng@yic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qiyao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Yantai Environmental Protection Engineering Consulting Design Institute, Yantai 264000, China.
authors.forename: Ruichuan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Ian T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Campus, Southwell, Nottinghamshire NG25 0QF, UK.
authors.forename: Robert J G
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Mortimer
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D013440:Sulfides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D000537:Aluminum Oxide