Degree
Master of Engineering Science
Program
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Supervisor
Dr. Sohrab Rohani
Abstract
Mercury has been recognized as one of the most hazardous heavy metals. The discharge of effluents containing mercury in soil, sediments and water can inflict an irreversible harm to the environment and human health. In this work, zeolitized coal fly ash as well as gold and gold-iron modified zeolites were successfully employed for mercury removal from a typical industrial wastewater. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo-gravimetrical analyses (TGA), surface area measurement (BET), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) were utilized to explore the characteristics of the raw and modified zeolites. A pseudo-second-order kinetic model was identified to best represent the kinetic data for mercury adsorption on all examined adsorbents. The adsorption mechanism of mercury on examined zeolite was found to be a multi steps process and the rate-limiting step was mainly surface adsorption.The isothermal adsorption data conformed to the Langmuir and the Freundlich models. Base on kinetic and isothermal results, both chemisorption and physisorption were effective during adsorption process.
Recommended Citation
Attari, Mahshid, "Mercury Removal from Aqueous Solution Using Natural, Synthetic, and Modified Zeolites" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3186.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3186