The effect of hydroxyl groups and surface area of hematite derived from annealing goethite for phosphate removal

Synthetic goethite and thermally treated goethite at different temperatures were used to remove phosphate from sewage. The effect of annealing temperature on phosphate removal over time was investigated. X-ray diffraction(XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption and desorption (BET), and infrared emission spectrum (FT-IES) were utilized to characterize the phase, morphology, specific surface area, pore distribution, and the surface groups of samples. The results show that annealed products of goethite at temperatures over 250 °C are hematite with the similar morphology as the original goethite with different hydroxyl groups and surface area. Increasing temperature causes the decrease in hydroxyl groups, consequential increase in surface area at first and then experiences a decrease (14.8–110.4–12.6 m2/g) and the subsequent formation of nanoscale pores. The variation rate of hydroxyl groups and surface area based on FT-IES and BET, respectively, are used to evaluate the effect of annealing temperature on phosphate removal. By using all of the characterization techniques, it is concluded that the changes of phosphate removal basically result from the total variation rate between hydroxyl groups and surface area.

Effect of reactive bed mineralogy on arsenic retention and permeability of synthetic arsenic-containing acid mine drainage

Successive alkalinity producing systems (SAPSs) are widely used for treating acid mine drainage (AMD) and alleviating clogging commonly occurring in limestone systems due to an amorphous ferric precipitate. In this study, iron dust, bone char, micrite and their admixtures were used to treat arseniccontaining AMD. A particular interest was devoted to arsenic removal performance, mineralogical constraints on arsenic retention ability and permeability variation during column experiment for 140 days. The results showed that the sequence of the arsenic removal capacity was as follows: bone char > micrite > iron dust. The combination of 20% v/v iron dust and 80% v/v bone char/micrite columns can achieve better hydraulic conductivity and phosphorus-retention capacity than single micrite and bone char columns. The addition of iron dust created reductive environment and resulted in the transformation of coating material from colloidal phase to secondary mineral phase, such as green rust and phosphoerrite, which obviously ameliorates hydraulic conductivity of systems. The sequential extraction experiments indicated that the stable fractions of arsenic in columns were enhanced with help of iron dust compared to single bone char and micrite columns. A combination of iron dust and micrite/bone char represented a potential SAPS for treating As-containing AMD.