Testing of various sorbents for copper sorption from acidic solutions

Heavy metals, including copper, are a serious environmental problem today. As an essential part of acid mine drainage they cause degradation of surface and subsurface water quality, including drinking water. Significant character of acid mine drainage is low value of pH, as a result of hydrogen cations releasing into aqueous environment during the process of pyrite oxidation and high concentration of heavy metals. Sorption techniques are widely used to remove heavy metal ions from large volumes of aqueous solutions. The fact of low pH must be taken in consideration because it has a relevant impact on the behavior of the sorbent during the sorption process.In order to study the optimal parameters of the sorption process of Cu(II) from acid mine drainage (pH=3–4), two sorbents under model conditions in solutions with pH of 4 were studied. For this purpose low cost natural sorbents turf brush PEATSORB and natural zeolite were selected. Different contact time and various initial concentrations of ions were tested as variables. The properties of the tested sorbents were compared from the point of view of their efficiency and sorption capacity. The impact of sorption on the pH change in solution was also studied