Remediation of oxalate in a homogeneous granulation process in the frame of crystallization

Abstract

Oxalate is a common contaminant found in industrial wastewater particularly in bauxite refining industries. Crystallization in fluidized-bed processes have been established to be effective toward eliminating the problems associated to sludge disposal. In this study, the effects of oxalate removal in a simulated wastewater were investigated at varying initial oxalate concentration (150 mg/L to 450 mg/L), oxalate to calcium molar ratio (1:2 to 2:1), influent flow rate (0.6 L/h to 1.9 L/h) and pH (4.5 to 8.5) through an unseeded crystallization setup. A homogeneous granulation process in a fluidized-bed reactor was continuously operated for 110 h. The final crystal products were characterized using the scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses. Results showed that the ideal operating conditions for oxalate granulation were at 300 mg/L initial oxalate concentration, 1:1 molar ratio, 0.9 L/h influent flow rate and pH 6.5. These conditions have led to high efficiencies of granulation and total oxalate removal of 94.6% and 96.0%, respectively. For crystal characterization, more than 0.149 mm were formed at a cumulative mass of 67.4% to 67.7%. Furthermore, the results obtained from the characterization of the granule products confirmed the development of spherical pellet shaped calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals.