Utilizing industrial by-products as eco-friendly adsorbent for phosphate removal: An experimental approach

Abstract

One of the widely present elements in the groundwater and surface water is phosphate due to two reasons; firstly, it is available at high concentrations in the soil, and secondly, it is widely available in wastewaters (industrial, agricultural and domestic wastewaters). Although phosphate causes many problems to the aquatic environment, eutrophication is the most severe problem due to its effects on water quality, economy, and health. Therefore, a number of studies have been made to evaluate the ability of different remedies to eliminate phosphates from wastewaters. Recently, phosphorus extraction may be achieved by filtering the contaminated solution. However, the cost of filtration materials is still high. Due to this reason, research to date has focused on employing inexpensive materials to reduce the cost of the filtering process. In this research, a by-product of steel manufacturing, kiln bottom ashes, was used to extract phosphates from polluted wastewater, considering the impacts of a number of operating parameters, such as to achieve the best possible extraction efficiency for the lowest possible cost. The findings of this study proved the excellent ability of the bottom ash in the extraction of phosphate from wastewater, where it removed more than 90% of 5 mg/L of phosphate after 40 minutes of treatment using 530 mg/L of bottom ash.