This paper presents the results of research on heavy metals removal from water by filtration using low cost coarse media which could be used as an alternative approach to remove heavy metals from water or selected wastewater. A series of batch studies were conducted using different particle media (particle size 2.36-4.75 mm) shaken with different heavy metal solutions at various pH values to see the removal behaviour for each metal. Each solution of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr(III)) with a concentration of 2 mg/L was shaken with the media. At a final pH of 8.5, limestone has significantly removed more than 90% of most metals followed by 80% and 65% removals using crushed bricks and gravel, respectively. The removal by aeration and settlement methods without solid media was less than 30%. Results indicated that the removal of heavy metals was influenced by the media and not directly by the pH. Investigations on the removal behaviour of these metals indicated that rough solid media with the presence of carbonate were beneficial for the removal process. Adsorption and precipitation as metals oxide and probably as metals carbonate were among the two mechanisms that contributed to the removal of metals from solution.
The performance of a carbon-mineral composite adsorbent used in a fixed bed column for the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen and aggregate organic pollutant (COD), which are commonly found in landfill leachate, was evaluated. The breakthrough capacities for ammoniacal nitrogen and COD adsorption were 4.46 and 3.23 mg/g, respectively. Additionally, the optimum empty bed contact time (EBCT) was 75 min. The column efficiency for ammoniacal nitrogen and COD adsorption using fresh adsorbent was 86.4% and 92.6%, respectively, and these values increased to 90.0% and 93.7%, respectively, after the regeneration process.
Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis, EDX mapping, Scanning Electron Microscope, SEM, together with X-ray Fluorescence Analysis, XRF, was carried out to extract the needed data from some metamorphic rock samples in part of the Nigerian Southwestern Precambrian Basement Complex, NSPBC. The foremost aim is to obtain the detail subsurface geological structures of the rocks within the area and to enhanced understanding of the processes and the types of metamorphic evolution in the area. The techniques involved qualitative and quantitative data analysis of the major, minor and radioactive elements present in the samples of rocks analyzed. The data helped to experimentally evaluate the rocks microstructures, and to also explore the development of magmatic and metamorphic mechanisms for the recognition of textual associations in the area. Applications of the EDX, SEM, and XRF data analysis are effortlessly done to determine the varied mixtures of Si, Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, and Na, in the presence of O existing in the rocks samples.The data helped in the classification and perceptive of these rocks and it was considered as a necessary tool in the knowledge of the metamorphism and origin of the Basement Complex rocks through measurement of the intensity of the emitted X-ray and its characteristics.