Pre-concentration efficiency of chelex-100 resin for heavy metals in seawater : Part 2. Distribution of Heavy Metals on a Chelex-100 Column and Optimization of the Column Efficiency by a Plate Simulation Method

Abstract

Seawater was spiked with heavy metals and passed through a Chelex-100 column string consisting of ten minicolumns. The recoveries of metals from each minicolumn are used to study their distribution on a column. A simplified model was constructed to simulate the chelating efficiency of columns of various sizes, at various pH and flow rates. It is shown that a column containing 2 g of resin in the magnesium form with a flow rate of 4 ml min −1 is suitable for pre-concentration of Cd, Cu, Co, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in seawater after adjustment to pH 6.5.