Dynamic Study and Modelling of Arsenic Removal from Groundwater Using Ferromagnetic Carbon as Fixed Bed Adsorbent in Column

Abstract

This study investigated the performance of Ferromagnetic Carbon (FC) as an effective natural adsorbent for arsenic removal from groundwater in Dong Thap Province (Vietnam). To do this, leaching fixed-bed column experiments have been carried out. The influence of operating variables affecting the process was studied, under varying operating conditions and experimental data were modelled using bed depth service time (BDST) and mass transfer approaches. Speciation studies showed that the groundwater contained 48.5% of particulate arsenic and 51.5% of soluble arsenic. Indeed, As (III) and As (V) forms represented respectively 41.9% and 58.1% in the dissolved arsenic. As removal was parametric depending such as pH, flow rate, initial As and adsorbent mass, requiring an optimization for optimum conditions When the pH increased from 3 to 11, removal of As(V) decreased from 96.5% to 5% while As(III) removal increased from 40% to 69%. The increase of initial arsenic has caused an increase in removal efficiency of different forms of arsenic. The easy regeneration of FC using a molar sodium hydroxide solution suggests that is an efficient and low-cost material to reduce the contamination of arsenic in drinking groundwater.