Adsorption and removal of arsenic from water by iron ore mining waste

摘要

There is a global need to develop low-cost technologies to remove arsenic from water fornindividual household water supply. In this study, a purified and enriched waste material (treatednmagnetite waste, TMW) from the Trai Cau’s iron ore mine in the Thai Nguyen Province in Vietnamnwas examined for its capacity to remove arsenic. The treatment system was packed with TMWnthat consisted of 75% of ferrous-ferric oxide (Fe3O4) and had a large surface area of 89.7m2/g.nThe experiments were conducted at a filtration rate of 0.05 m/h to treat groundwater with annarsenic concentration of 380mg/L and iron, manganese and phosphate concentrations ofn2.07 mg/L, 0.093 mg/L and 1.6 mg/L respectively. The batch experimental results show that thisnnew material was able to absorb up to 0.74mg arsenic/g. The results also indicated that thentreatment system removed more than 90% arsenic giving an effluent with an arsenicnconcentration of less than 30 mg/L while achieving a removal efficiency of about 80% for Mn2+nand PO32n4 . This could be a promising and cost-effective new material for capturing arsenic asnwell as other metals from groundwater.