Development of evaporation technique for concentrating lead acid wastewater from the battery recycling plant, by nanocomposite ceramic substrates and solar/wind energy

Abstract

Wastewater from car battery recycling plants contains lead ions. This acidic wastewater was treated by the solar steam generation method. In this research, a light porous ceramic substrate (PCS) was made based on clay, human hair, and nano-hydroxyapatite. The physical and chemical characteristics of this PCS were identified by SEM, XRD, FTIR, BET, and TGA. The high porosity in PCSs was created due to the removal of human hair in the calcination process inside the furnace. Microchannels with capillarity and hydrophilicity of nano-hydroxyapatite quickly pump water molecules to the surface of PCSs. The wastewater treatment process was carried out on two laboratory and semi-industrial scales. The temperature of the surface of the PCSs reached 70 °C in less than 60 min with the radiant heat transfer mechanism, and the water molecules were evaporated with an evaporation rate and thermal conversion efficiency were 9.22 Kgm−2h−2 and 90%, respectively. The wind blew the vapor away from the system and the rate of evaporation increased. PCSs had the ability to regenerate after several consecutive cycles.