Biosorption Of Chromium(iii) By Sargassum Sp. Biomass

Chromium is present in different types of industrial effluents, being responsible for environmental pollution. Traditionally, the chromium removal is made by chemical precipitation. However, this method is not completely feasible to reduce the chromium concentration to levels as low as required by environmental legislation. Biosorption is a process in which solids of natural origin are employed for binding heavy metals. It is a promising alternative method to treat industrial effluents, mainly because of its low cost and high metal binding capacity. In this work the chromium biosorption process by Sargassum sp. seaweed biomass is studied. Sargassum sp. seaweed, which is abundant in the Brazilian coast, has been utilized with and without milling. The work considered the determination of chromium-biomass equilibrium data in batch system. These studies were carried out in order to determine some operational parameters of chromium sorption such as the time required for the metal-biosorbent equilibrium, the effects of biomass size, pH and temperature. The results showed that pH has an important effect on chromium biosorption capacity. The biosorbent size did not affect chromium biosorption rate and capacity. © 2002 by Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.52133140Aksu, Z., Kutsal, T., A bioseparation process for removing lead(II) ions from waste water by using C. vulgaris (1991) Journal of Chemical and Technology Biotechnology, 52 (1), pp. 109-118Costa, A.C.A., França, F.P., Cadmium uptake by biosorbent seaweeds: Adsorption isotherms and some process conditions (1996) Separation Science and Technology, 31, pp. 2373-2393Crist, R.H., Martin, J.R., Guptill, P.W., Eslinger, J.M., Crist, D.R., Interaction of metals and protons with algae. 2 Ion exchange in adsorption and metal displacement by protons (1990) Environment and Science and Technology, 24 (3), pp. 337-342Crist, R.H., Oberholser, K., Schwartz, D., Marzoff, J., Ryder, D., Interactions of metals and protons with algae, 1 (1988) Environment and Science Technology, 22 (7), pp. 755-760Darnall, D.W., Greene, B., Henzi, M.T., Hosea, J.M., Mcpherson, R.A., Sneddon, J., Alexander, M.D., Selective recovery of gold and other metal ions from an algal biomass (1986) Environment Science and Technology, 20, pp. 206-208Gadd, G.M., Heavy metal accumulation by bacteria and other microorganisms (1990) Experientia, 46, pp. 834-840Garnham, G.W., Codd, G.A., Gadd, G.M., Accumulation of zirconium by microalgae and cyanobacteria (1993) Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 39, pp. 666-672Guibal, E., Roulph, C., Le Cloirec, P., Uranium biosorption by a filamentous fungus Mucor miehei pH effect on mechanisms and performances of uptake (1992) Water Research, 26, pp. 1139-1145Holan, Z.R., Volesky, Biosorption of lead and nickel by biomass of marine algae (1994) Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 43, pp. 1001-1009Holan, Z.R., Volesky, B., Prasetyo, I., Biosorption of cadmium by biomass of marine algae (1993) Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 41, pp. 819-825Kratochvil, D., Volesky, B., Advances in biosorption of heavy metals (1998) Trends in Biotechnology, 16, pp. 291-300Kratochvil, D., Pimentel, P., Volesky, B., Removal of trivalent chromium by seaweed biosorbent (1998) Environment Science and Technology, 32, pp. 2693-2698Kuyucak, N., Volesky, B., Accumulation of cobalt by marine alga (1989) Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 33 (7), pp. 809-814Leusch, A., Holan, Z.R., Volesky, B., Biosorption of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) by chemically-reinforced biomass of marine algae (1995) Journal of Chemical and Technology Biotechnology, 62, pp. 279-288Muraleedharan, T.R., Iyengar, L., Venkobachar, C., Biosorption: An attractive alternative for metal removal and recovery (1991) Current Science, 61, pp. 379-385Nourbakhsh, M., Sag, Y., Özer, D., Aksu, Z., Çaglar, A., A comparative study of various biosorbents for removal of chromium(VI) ions from industrial wastewaters (1994) Process Biochemistry, 29, pp. 1-5Tsezos, M., Volesky, B., Biosorption of uranium and thorium (1981) Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 23, pp. 583-604Valkó, P., Vagda, S., An extended Maquardt-type procedure for fitting error in variables models (1987) Computation Chemical Engineering, 11, pp. 37-43Volesky, B., Holan, Z.R., Biosorption of heavy metals (1995) Biotechnology Progress, 11 (3), pp. 235-250. , May - JuneVolesky, B., (1990) Biosorption of Heavy Metals, 408p. , CRC Press, Boston, USA, November ISBN 0849349176Volesky, B., Biosorbent materials (1986) Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 16, pp. 121-125Yang, J., Volesky, B., Biosorption and elution of uranium with seaweed biomass (1999) Biohydrometallurgy and the Environment Toward the Mining of the 21st Century: International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium Proceedings, p. 483. , (20th - 23rd June, 1999, San Lorenzo De El Escorial, Madrid, Spain). BALLESTER, Antonio and AMILS, Ricardo eds., ISBN 044450193