Abstract
Zinc uptake by adsorption from zinc-spiked acid rock drainage (ARD) on natural clinoptilolite was investigated in a slurry bubble column. The effects of contact time, adsorbent particle size, initial aqueous zinc concentration, adsorbent dosage and initial solution pH on zinc immobilization were examined. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm equations were fitted to the experimental data. Finer clinoptilolite particles adsorbed more zinc, probably due to more accessible surface area. Zinc adsorption improved as pH increased from 2 to 5, probably due to competition of H + at low pH. A slurry loading of 200 g clinoptilolite per kilogram ARD and an initial aqueous pH of 4 appear to be suitable conditions for removing zinc from ARD. While the aqueous concentration of zinc in ARD was reduced significantly in a single run, 8 cycles of adsorption in series were needed to reduce the zinc concentration to the regulated level.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
