Abstract
Mozambique is one of the largest coal exporters in Africa. Usually miningactivities generate polluted water that is discharged into the Zambezi river basin in the Moatize area without treatment, increasing the risk both to the local environment and to public health because of this water containing significant amounts of metals and metalloids. At the same time, Mozambique is one of the largest producers of cassava peels, most of which are wasted. The aim of the present investigation was to study the use of discarded cassava peels to treat the polluted mine water from Moatize by means of adsorption. The effects both of the pH and of the contact time between the adsorbent, the adsorbate and the adsorption isotherms were examined.For calcium, magnesium, cobalt, mercury and manganese, an equilibrium wasattained in less than 50 min, the removal efficiency of calcium, magnesium, and mercury being greater under alkaline conditions and being greatest for cobalt at pH 4 and for manganese at pH 7.5. The correlation coefficients of the experimental data were very high for the calcium, magnesium and manganese metals as compared with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. For the Langmuir isotherms, it was found that the adsorption of calcium, magnesium, cobalt, mercury, and manganese by the cassava peels was favorable for adsorption generally, whereas for the Freundlich isotherms it was only manganese that was found to be not favorable for adsorption. (Less)
Highlights
Mozambique is one of the largest cassava producers in Africa
The present study focused on the need of investigating the use of cassava peels as bioadsorbent in the treatment of mine water from coal mines area
Use of the cheap cassava peel material that was available in the study area provided an excellent means of cleaning the polluted coal mine water there
Summary
Mozambique is one of the largest cassava producers in Africa. Mozambique is one of the largest coal producers in Africa, at the same time as very large amounts of polluted water are generated by the coal mines there, those in Moatize in the center of the country. This polluted water is discharged directly into the environment without treatment of any sort (Pondja, 2013). The coal mines are located within the Zambezi river basin, which is one of the most important sources of water in southern Africa.
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