Secondary pollution of water during the biosorption of heavy metal ions by pristine and sugar beet shreds from bioethanol production

Abstract

When biomaterials are used as adsorbents, some compounds present in their structure can be extracted and cause secondary pollution of the treated water. Depending on the type and amount of the secondary pollution, some materials can be unacceptable as adsorbents despite of their good adsorption capacity. Although, it is not a newly discovered phenomenon and it is recognized as a problem, leaching from adsorbents is neglected. The aim of our study is to investigate the secondary pollution of the water during the biosorption of heavy metal ions by pristine and modified sugar beet shreds from bioethanol production. The presence of different elements in the mentioned adsorbents, secondary pollution of the water during the adsorption of heavy metal ions and amount of reducing sugars in the water treated by pristine sugar beet shreds were characterized by the SEM-EDS method, the amount of the leached inorganic and organic matter from the adsorbents (atomic absorption spectroscopy and permanganate index) and Bertrand's method, respectively. Furthermore, the obtained results were compared to the available literature data. Our results showed that according to the valid regulations of emission limit values of the polluting substances in the water and adsorption capacity, the investigated adsorbents have a great potential as biosorbents for practical treatment of wastewaters which contain high concentrations of heavy metal ions.