Removal of Boron from Waste Waters by Ion- Exchange in a Batch System

Boron minerals are very useful for various industrial activities, such as glass industry and detergent industry, due to its mechanical and chemical properties. During the production of boron compounds, many of these are introduced into the environment in the form of waste. Boron is also an important micro nutrient for the plants to vegetate but if it exists in high concentrations, it could have toxic effects. The maximum boron level in drinking water for human health is given as 0.3 mg/L in World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The toxic effects of boron should be noted especially for dry regions, thus, in recent years, increasing attention has been paid to remove the boron from waste waters. In this study, boron removal is implemented by ion exchange process using Amberlite IRA-743 resin. Amberlite IRA-743 resin is a boron specific resin and it belongs to the polymerizate sorbent group within the aminopolyol functional group. Batch studies were performed to investigate the effects of various experimental parameters, such as adsorbent dose, initial concentration and pH, on the removal of boron. It is found that, when the adsorbent dose increases removal of boron from the liquid phase increases. However, an increase in the initial concentration decreases the removal of boron. The effective pH values for removal of boron are determined between 8.5 and 9. Equilibrium isotherms were also analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm is obeyed better than the Freundlich isotherm.

Authors:

• Pelin Demirçivi
• Gülhayat Nasün-Saygılı

Keywords:

• Amberlite resin
• boron removal
• ion exchange
• isotherm models.

References:

[1] Col, M. & Col, C., Environmental boron contamination in waters of
Hisarcik area in the Kutahya Province of Turkey, Food Chem.
Toxicol.,41, pp. 1417-1420, 2003.
[2] Klimenko, I.A., Polyakov, V.A., Sokolovskii, L.G., Aksenova, O.I.,
Skvortsova, O.Yu. & Okhrimenko, S.E., The sanitary status of natural
waters of the territory of Moscow (according to the results of the
examination of chemical and radionuclide composition), Gig. Sanit., 5,
pp.7-11, 2003.
[3] Coughlin, J.R., Sources of human exposure: overview of water supplies
as sources of boron, Biol. Trace Elem. Res., 66, pp. 87-100, 1998.
[4] Vengosh, A., The isotopic composition of anthropogenic boron and its
potential impact on the environment, Biol. Trace Element Res., 66,
pp.145-151, 1998.
[5] Barth, S., Application of boron isotopes for tracing sources of
anthropogenic contamination in groundwater, Water Res., 32, pp. 685-
690, 1998.
[6] Badruk, M., Kabay, N., Demircioglu, M., Mordogan, H. & Ipekoglu, U.,
Removal of boron from wastewater of geothermal power plant by
selective ionexchange resins, J. Sep. Sci. Technol., 34, pp. 2981-2995,
1999.
[7] Barth, S., Application of boron isotopes for tracing sources of
anthropogenic contamination in ground water, Wat. Res., 32, pp. 685-
690, 1998.
[8] Boncukcuoglu, R., Kocakerim, M.M., Kocadagistan, E. & Yilmaz, M.T.,
Recovery of boron of the sieve reject in the production of borax,
resources, conservation and recycling, 37(2), pp. 147-157, 2003.
[9] Y─▒lmaz, A.E., Boncukcuoglu, R., Y─▒lmaz, M.T. & Kocakerim, M.M.,
Adsorption of boron from boron-containing wastewaters by ion
Exchange in a continuous reactor, J. Hazard. Mater., 117, pp. 221-226,
2005.
[10] Parks, J.L. & Edwards, M., Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol., 35, pp.
81-114, 2005.
[11] Howe, P.D., Biol. Trace Elem. Res., 66, pp. 153-166, 1998.
[12] Polat, H., Vengosh, A., Pankratov, I. & Polat, M., Desalination, 164, pp.
173-188, 2004.
[13] Inukai, Y., Tanaka, Y., Matsuda T., Nikara, N., Yamada, K., Nambu, N.,
Itoh, T., Ooi, K., Kaida, Y. & Yasuda, S., Anal. Chim. Acta, 511, pp.
261-265, 2004.
[14] Smith, B.M., Owens, J.L., Bowman, C.H. & Todd, P., Carbohyd. Res.,
308, pp. 173-179, 1998.
[15] Ay, A.N., Karan-Zumreoglu, B. & Temel, A., Micropor. Mesopor.
Mater., 98, pp. 1-5, 2007.
[16] Seyhan, S., Seki, Y., Yurdakoc, M. & Merdivan, M., J. Hazard.
Mater.,146, pp. 180-185, 2007.
[17] Seki, Y., Seyhan, S. & Yurdakoc, M., J. Hazard. Mater., 138(1), pp. 60-
66, 2006.
[18] Karahan, S., Yurdakoc, M., Seki, Y. & Yurdakoc, K., J. Colloid Interf.
Sci., 293(1), pp. 36-42, 2006.
[19] Yurdakoc, M., Seki, Y., Karahan, S. & Yurdakoc, K., J. Colloid Interf.
Sci., 286(2), pp. 440-446, 2005.
[20] Simonnot, M.O., Castel, C., Nikolai, M., Rosin, C., Sardin, M. &
Jaufferet, H., Water Res., 34, pp. 109-116, 2000.
[21] Kabay, N., Sarp, S., Yuksel, M., Arar, Ö. & Bryjak, M., Removal of
boron from seawater by selective ion exchange resins, Reactive &
Functional Polymers, 67, pp. 1643-1650, 2007.
[22] Hanay, A., Boncukcuo─ƒlu, R., Kocakerim, M.M. & Y─▒lmaz A.E., Fresen.
Environ. Bull. , 12(10), pp. 1190, 2003.
[23] Garcia-Soto, M.M.F. & Camacho, E.M., Boron removal by process of
chemosorption, Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, 23, pp. 741-757,
2005.
[24] Cengeloglu, Y., Tor, A., Arslan, G., Ersoz, M. & Gezgin, S., Removal of
boron from aqueous solution by using neutralized red mud, Journal of
Hazardous Materials, 2006.
[25] Lou, J., Modelling of boron sorption equilibrium and kinetic studies of
ion exchange with boron solution, PhD Thesis, Oklahoma State
University, USA, 1997.