The efficiency of a flocculent consisting of saw dust and bentonite clay in the removal of fe and ni from AMD

Abstract

Sets of experiments were conducted by pouring 200 mL of synthetic acid mine drainage (AMD) into five 500 mL glass beakers, dosed with varying quantities of bentonite clay and saw dust interchangeably, mixed at 250 and 100 rpm for 2 and 10 mns respectively. The samples settled for 1 hour after which the pH, concentration, oxidation reduction potential (ORP) and percentage removal of heavy metals were measured. The results show that the removal efficiency of a flocculent on Ni and Fe is effective. The results show that saw dust does not affect the conductivity of a solution. The ORP of the samples with a flocculent with increasing bentonite clay exhibits a higher rate oxidation than that of a flocculent with increasing saw dust. The crystal morphology of the SEM micrographs with 1.5 g bentonite clay and 1.5 g saw dust show three types of structures, i.e. round flocs, elongated and clustered agglomerates which is indicative of high sorption capacity.