Removal of Copper and Zinc from Ground Water by Granular Zero-Valent Iron: A Study of Kinetics

Abstract

Three different granular zero-valent iron (ZVI) sources are assessed for the removal of Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions from aqueous solutions. For initial heavy metal concentrations of 50 µM the observed kinetics could be modelled via first order reaction rates. Differences in the observed kinetic rate of copper and zinc removal for different ZVI sources could not be explained by geometric or nitrogen based adsorption surface areas. Results obtained via varying both temperature and shaker rate indicate that in an environment which contains dissolved oxygen, ion diffusion and hence water flow rate will control the kinetics of copper and zinc removal by granular ZVI.