A study on iron and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal by heat treated zeolite media

Abstract

Sanitary landfills produce different forms of effluents as the waste degrades. The water portion recognized as leachate contains numerous pollutants which are hazardous to health. This study investigates the removal of such pollutants using Zeolite as adsorbents utilizing preconditioning method. The physio-chemical treatment or ion exchange/adsorption is preferred because of its stability, simplicity and easy maintenance. The batch experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of heat treated Zeolite. The equilibrium adsorption data was studied using Freundlich isotherm for the removal of Iron (Fe3+) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). The overall removal capacity of the heat treated Zeolite media for Iron and COD was 78.9% and 39.5% respectively. Heat treated Zeolite had 10 times greater capacity in removing Fe3+ compared to natural Zeolite and 4 times for COD removal.