Lignite fired fly ash modified by chemical treatment for adsorption of zinc from aqueous solution

Abstract

The purpose of the study described in this paper was to compare removal of Zn(II) from aqueous solutions by use of two adsorbents-alkali-modified fly ash (FAN) and alkali and dye-modified fly ash (FAN-MO). The effects of four conditions (solution pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and dose of adsorbent) on removal of Zn(II) at 27 ± 5 °C were studied in batch mode. Adsorption of Zn(II) was greater at pH 4.0 for FAN (76.49 %) and at pH 5.0 for FAN-MO (24.72 %). Maximum adsorption of Zn(II) by FAN and FAN-MO was achieved after 50 min. The linear forms of the Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, D-R, Harkin-Jura, and Frenkel-Halsey isotherms were used for experiments with different concentrations of the metals. Adsorption of Zn(II) ions satisfied the Langmuir isotherm model only. The adsorption capacity of both adsorbents was also investigated by column studies. Adsorption of Zn(II) ions on FAN in column studies (45.33 %) was lower than in batch mode studies. For FAN-MO, adsorption was 37.88 % in column studies, again lower than in batch mode studies. Fly ash modified by alkali had a higher adsorption capacity for Zn(II) ions than fly ash modified by alkali followed by addition of dye. © 2012 The Author(s).