Investigation on mechanism of phosphate removal on carbonized sludge adsorbent
Lei Zhang , Junxin Liu , Xuesong Guo
DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2017.06.034
Received April 10, 2017,Revised June 24, 2017, Accepted June 26, 2017, Available online July 05, 2017
Volume 30,2018,Pages 335-344
For the removal of phosphate (PO43 -) from water, an adsorbent was prepared via carbonization of sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant: carbonized sludge adsorbent (CSA). The mechanism of phosphate removal was determined after studying the structure and chemical properties of the CSA and its influence on phosphate removal. The results demonstrate that phosphate adsorption by the CSA can be fitted with the pseudo second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models, indicating that the adsorption is single molecular layer adsorption dominated by chemical reaction. The active sites binding phosphate on the surface are composed of mineral particles containing Si/Ca/Al/Fe. The mineral containing Ca, calcite, is the main factor responsible for phosphate removal. The phosphate removal mechanism is a complex process including crystallization via the interaction between Ca2 + and PO43 -; formation of precipitates of Ca2 +, Al3 +, and PO43 -; and adsorption of PO43 - on some recalcitrant oxides composed of Si/Al/Fe.
