Moringa Seed, Residual Coffee Powder, and Banana Peel as Biosorbents for Uranium Removal from Acid Mine Drainage

Abstract

The uranium mining deserves attention with regard to environmental impacts and water pollution in Brazil. The research objective was to enable the use of biomass as cheap and available adsorbents for uranium removal from acid mine drainage. Three types of biomass were tested: banana peel, residual coffee powder, and moringa seed. Synthetic uranium solution (SS) and acid mine drainage (AMD) were used in the equilibrium adsorption experiments. Remarkable total uranium removal efficiencies were observed for moringa (96.8 ± 2.2 [SS] and 86.5 ± 0.8% [AMD]), coffee (89.4 ± 11.2 [SS] and 73.7 ± 2.2% [AMD]), and banana (48.2 ± 14.0 [SS] and 55.9 ± 4.8% [AMD]). The highest experimental adsorption densities were 18.7, 19.1, and 6.3 mg•g-1 , respectively. Quantitative curves were described for each adsorbent and can be used for practical applications. Design and operating parameters for uranium removal from AMD as a post-treatment, polishing method can be determined beforehand.