The influence of solution pH on the absorption of heavy metals Cr (VI) by Saccharomyces cerevisiae biomass

Abstract

In general, industries produce waste, which causes environmental pollution and is a danger to living things. Chromium heavy metal waste is one type of waste that has high toxicity that can lead to chronic poisoning, acute, and can cause cancer. Biological treatment is a choice to reduce the concentration of heavy metals in environmental media. This study uses a biosorption column that utilizes Saccharomyces cerevisiae bacteria using bacterial biomass made in a state of silence in a continuous column, then flowing Cr (VI) metal solution downflow with a constant flow rate. Laboratory analysis results show that the removal efficiency of Cr (VI) for the initial pH 3 solution is 44.74% - 77.84%, the pH 5 treatment is 7.52% - 30.54% and the pH 7 treatment is 5.80% - 11.40%. The highest removal efficiency occurred at pH 3 of 77.84%. The remaining metal concentrations in the barrel can reduce to 11.08 mg/L.