KINETIC STUDIES OF THE ADSORPTION OF HEAVY METALS (CHROMIUM) FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER USING PALM KERNEL SHELL AND CHARCOAL
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to Study
At least 20 metals are classified as toxic and half of these are emitted into the environment in quantities that pose risks to human health (Kortenkamp et. al. 1996). Chromium has both beneficial and detrimental properties. Two stable oxidation states of chromium persist in the environment, Cr (III) and Cr (VI), which have contrasting toxicities, mobilities and bio availabilities. Whereas Cr (III) is essential in human nutrition (especially in glucose metabolism), most of the hexavalent compounds are toxic, several can even cause lung cancer. While Cr (III) is relatively innocuous and immobile, Cr (VI) moves readily through soils and aquatic environments and is a strong oxidizing agent capable of being absorbed through the skin (Park and Jung, 2001). Chromium and its compounds are widely used in electroplating, leather tanning, cement, dyeing, metal processing, wood preservatives, paint and pigments, textile, steel fabrication and canning industries These industries produce large quantities of toxic wastewater effluents (Raji and Anirudhan, 1997). The maximum concentration limit for Cr (VI) for discharge into inland surface waters is 0.1 mg/l and in potable water is 0.05 mg/l (EPA, 1990).
A wide range of physical and chemical processes is available for the removal of Cr (VI) from wastewater, such as electro-chemical precipitation, ultra filtration, ion exchange and reverse osmosis (Rengaraj et al. 2001; Yurlova et al. 2002; Benito and Ruiz, 2002). A major drawback with precipitation is sludge production. Ion exchange is considered a better alternative technique for such a purpose. However, it is not economically appealing because of high operational cost. Adsorption using commercial activated carbon (CAC) can remove heavy metals from wastewater, such as Cd (Ramos et al. 1997); Ni (Shim et al. 2001); Cr (Ouki et al. 1997); Cu (Monser and Adhoum, 2002). However, CAC remains an expensive material for heavy metal removal.