Copper biosorption in the presence of lead onto olive stone and pine bark in batch and continuous systems

Abstract

In the present work, biosorption of copper(II) in the presence of lead(II) ions by olive stone and pine bark was investigated in batch and continuous mode. Particularly, it pretends provide new information regarding binary biosorption of metals in continuous flow. The behavior of competitive Cu(II) and Pb(II) biosorption in batch was successfully described by the multicomponent Sips model, obtaining maximum capacities for Cu(II) and Pb(II) of 1.34 and 2.12 mg/g, respectively for olive stone, and 6.05 and 10.04 mg/g, respectively, for pine bark. Olive stone and pine bark removed the target metal ions in the selectivity order of Pb(II)>Cu(II). In continuous mode the biosorption capacity for Pb(II) (6.59 and 26.01 mg/g for olive stone and pine bark, respectively) were also higher than copper one (2.19 and 12.66 mg/g for olive stone and pine bark, respectively), indicating the higher affinity of lead for the two biosorbents in continuous system too. Finally, the results of this study demonstrated that pine bark could be a better biosorbent than olive stone. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 33: 192–204, 2014