Removal of Pb(II) Ions in Fixed‐Bed Column from Electroplating Wastewater of Bursa, an Industrial City in Turkey

Abstract

Removal of Pb(II) ions from electroplating wastewater of Bursa, an industrial city in Turkey, was investigated in fixed‐bed column. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of important design parameters such as column bed height and flow rate. The breakthrough profiles were obtained in these studies. At a bed height of 14 cm and flow rate of 6 mL/min, the metal‐uptake capacity of poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate‐1‐vinylimidazole) [poly(EGDMA‐VIM)] beads for Pb(II) ions was found to be 90 mg/g. Bed Depth Service Time (BDST) model was used to analyse the experimental data and evaluate the performance of adsorption column. For various flow rates, adsorption capacity per unit bed volume (N0) and adsorption rate constant (ka) are in the range of 2370–3560 mg/mL and 0.0225–0.0616 L/mg h, respectively. The saturated column was easily regenerated by 0.1 M HNO3 and the poly(EGDMA‐VIM) beads in fixed‐bed column could be reused for Pb(II) ions removal.