Fe(ii) and mn(ii) removal from contaminated groundwater by adsorption: a comparison of activated carbon and pine bark
1 ENEA- Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Research Centre Casaccia, Sustainability Department, Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy
2 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, SAPIENZA University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
3 Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land, Environment and of Mathematics, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy
2 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, SAPIENZA University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
3 Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land, Environment and of Mathematics, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Abstract
This paper aims to compare the adsorption performance of activated carbon and pine bark for iron and manganese removal from contaminated groundwater. Moreover, their environmental compatibility was checked for their possible use as reactive media in a permeable reactive barrier for in situ remediation. Batch tests were carried out with different iron and manganese concentrations and different particle-size distributions, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the activated carbon and pine bark on removal depending on both the initial pollutant concentration and the surface area of the adsorbent. High removal efficiencies were reached by both of the reactive media. However, faster removal at higher concentration was observed only for iron adsorption by activated carbon. The particle-size distribution did not significantly influence the process in the experimental conditions tested. The immobilization process on the reactive media can be considered almost irreversible since the quantities of iron and manganese released during the desorption tests were negligible.
Keywords
adsorption; biosorbents; contaminated groundwater; heavy metals