Kinetics of chromium removal from spent tanning liquors using acetylene production sludge

Hexavalent chromium release over time from a pyrolyzed Cr-bearing tannery sludge

Pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere is a widely applied route to convert tannery wastes into reusable materials. In the present study, the Cr(III) conversion into the toxic hexavalent form in the pyrolyzed tannery waste referred to as KEU was investigated. Ageing experiments and leaching tests demonstrated that the Cr(III)-Cr(VI) inter-conversion occurs in the presence of air at ambient temperature, enhanced by wet environmental conditions. Microstructural analysis revealed that the Cr-primary mineral assemblage formed during pyrolysis (Cr-bearing srebrodolskite and Cr-magnetite spinel) destabilized upon spray water cooling in the last stage of the process. In the evolution from the higher to the lower temperature mineralogy, Cr is incorporated into newly formed CrOOH flakes which likely react in air forming extractable Cr(VI) species. This property transforms KEU from an inert waste to a hazardous material when exposed to ordinary ambient conditions.

Microbial cell wall sorption and Fe-Mn binding in rhizosphere contribute to the obstruction of cadmium from soil to rice

Screening high-tolerant microorganisms to cadmium (Cd) and revealing their bio-obstruction mechanism could be significant for Cd regulation from farmland to the food chain. We examined the tolerance and bio-removal efficiency of Cd ions of two bacterial strains, Pseudomonas putida 23483 and Bacillus sp. GY16, and measured the accumulation of Cd ions in rice tissues and its different chemical forms in soil. The results showed that the two strains had high tolerance to Cd, but the removal efficiency was decreased successively with increasing Cd concentrations (0.05 to 5 mg kg^-1). Cell-sorption accounted for the major proportion of Cd removal compared with excreta binding in both strains, which was conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetics. At the subcellular level, Cd was mostly taken up by the cell mantle and cell wall, and only a small amount entered into the cytomembrane and cytoplasmic with time progressed (0 to 24 h) in each concentration. The cell mantle and cell wall sorption decreased with increasing Cd concentration, especially in the cytomembrane and cytoplasmic. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis verified that Cd ions were attached to the cell surface, and the functional groups of C-H, C-N, C=O, N-H, and O-H in the cell surface may participate in cell-sorption process tested by the FTIR analysis. Furthermore, inoculation of the two strains significantly decreased Cd accumulation in rice straw and grain but increased in the root, increased Cd enrichment ratio in root from soil, decreased Cd translocation ratio from root to straw and grain, and increased the Cd concentrations of Fe-Mn binding form and residual form in rhizosphere soil. This study highlights that the two strains mainly removed Cd ions in solution through biosorption and passivated soil Cd as Fe-Mn combined form ascribe to its characteristics of manganese-oxidizing, eventually achieving bio-obstruction of Cd from soil to rice grain.

Isolation and characterization of Cr(VI)-reducing actinomycetes from estuarine sediments

Bioremediation technologies have strong potential use in the less costly and more environmentally friendly removal of highly toxic hexavalent-chromium (Cr(VI)) compared with physicochemical technologies. Several Cr(VI)-reducing bacteria have been isolated; however, there are few studies on Cr(VI)-resistant and Cr(VI)-reducing actinomycetes. In this study, Cr(VI)-reducing actinomycetes were screened from estuarine, marine, and terrestrial samples on the basis of Cr(VI)-resistant and Cr(VI)-reducing ability. Of the 80 Streptomyces-like strains isolated, 20 strains were found to be resistant to 50 mg/l of Cr(VI). In addition, two strains isolated from the estuarine sediment of Tokyo Bay were found to be resistant to a concentration of 150 mg/l of Cr(VI). Furthermore, one Cr(VI)-reducing strain was found to remove 60 mg/l of Cr(VI) within 1 week and was identified as Streptomyces thermocarboxydus based on 16S rRNA gene analysis. The comparative evaluation with the type strain S. thermocarboxydus NBRC 16323 showed that our isolated strain had higher ability to grow at 27 °C and reduce Cr(VI) at a NaCl concentration of 6.0 % at 27 °C compared with the type strain NBRC 16323. These results indicate that our isolated strain have a potential ability to remove Cr(VI) from contaminated, highly saline sources without heating.

Sorptive removal of trivalent and hexavalent chromium from binary aqueous solutions by composite alginate-goethite beads

In this study, the removal of hexavalent and trivalent chromium ions from binary aqueous solutions by composite alginate-goethite beads was investigated in a batch mode. Equilibrium sorption experiments were carried out at different temperatures and pH values. The data were correlated with Langmuir and Freundlich equations. The thermodynamic parameters calculated were: change in free energy, in enthalpy, in entropy and the heat of adsorption. The influence of mixing rate, sorbent concentration and sorbent particle size was studied at kinetic runs. The effective diffusion coefficients were evaluated by employing the homogeneous diffusion model and the shrinking core model for hexavalent and trivalent chromium, respectively. Desorption experiments were conducted by employing various eluants showed that the loaded material could be regenerated satisfactorily.