Evaluation of heavy metal removal from industrial wastewater using a new natural flocculant

Conventional flocculants cause environmental and health concerns which could be avoidedby applying natural materials. In this research, performance of Pistacia terebinthus, asan eco-friendly coagulant for industrial wastewater treatment was evaluated. To do this,different dosages of Pistacia terebinthus (۰.۵, ۱, ۱.۵, and ۲ g/L) was applied to industrialwastewater to remove heavy metals of Pb۲+ and Cu۲+. The effect of various initial pH(۳, ۵, ۷, ۹, ۱۱) on the flucculant performance was investigated. In addition, scanningelectron microscope (SEM) images and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) spectra was conducted to find the morphology of flocs and the mainmechanism of treatment, respectively. The results showed that under the optimalcondition of NF dosage = ۲ g/L and pH=۱۱, maximum removal efficiencies of ۹۸% and۹۹% was obtained for Pb۲+ and Cu۲+, respectively after ۶۰ minutes of settling time.The results revealed that the main mechanism of the Pistacia terebinthus as naturalflocculant with pH adjustment for heavy metal removal is bridging combined withcharge neutralization. The findings of the current work proved that Pistacia terebinthuscan be considered as a promising flocculant for sustainable industrial wastewatertreatment.

کلیدواژه ها:

Wastewater treatment ، Flocculation ، Pulp and paper wastewater ، Heavy metalremoval