Treatment of Chromium (VI) Wastes with Clay Based Adsorbents after Reduction with Acid Mine Drainage

Authors

  • Sibabalwe Mxinwa Mintek

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/

Abstract

South Africa has one of the largest Cr-related industries in the world and generates large amounts of Cr-containing smelter dusts. It is normal practice to scrub Cr from the furnace off-gas in water, and to recover the Cr by adsorption, followed by recycling of the loaded adsorbent into the furnace. A study was conducted to find a low-cost adsorbent that is capable of achieving sufficient Cr removal from waste solutions generated by scrubbing the furnace dusts in water. The test work focused on the evaluation of different clay minerals (attapulgite, bentonite and kaolinite) as adsorbents for Cr. Cr(VI) could only be adsorbed after pre-reduction with e.g. ascorbic acid (ASA). An 80% removal of Cr(VI) could be achieved from a solution containing 20 mg/L Cr using bentonite clay after reduction with ASA. The use of Randfontein acid mine drainage (AMD) was also investigated as a low-cost alternative, as AMD usually contains iron. 

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Published

2026-04-15

Issue

Section

Mine Impacted Water