Boron pollution in the Simav River, Turkey and various methods of boron removal

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Abstract

The present study was undertaken to investigate various methods for boron removal from the drainage waters of the Bigadic boron mines of Turkey. α-Cellulose, magnesium oxide and boron-specific resin Amberlite IRA-743 (Rohm & Haas Co.) were selected for the present work. Experimental results show that both the adsorption method using magnesium oxide and the ion-exchange operations are effective in removing boron from the drainage waters. Cellulose as an adsorbent has a minimum efficiency. MgO can be used effectively at a Mg/B mol ratio of 20 for three cleaning cycles with 85% removal efficiency but must be discharged and refreshed after the third cycle. Consumption of 18,100 tons of MgO per year in the removal system makes this process uneconomical. Boron-specific resin Amberlite IRA-743 in free-amine form is also uneconomical due to expensive regeneration steps. The capacity of this resin in salt-form was found to be 1.5 mg boron ml−1 resin at 10% boron leakage and at a flow rate of 161 h−1l−1. The possibility of reuse of 90% of the regenerant and production of 4400 tons of boric acid in the removal system with salt-form boron-specific resin, compensate the annual cost of chemicals and also bring in some profit.

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    The main boron removal methods studied so far involve solvent extraction [6], precipitation [7], adsorption [8], ion-exchange [9], and reverse osmosis [10]. Among them, the adsorption process is the most suitable method due to its simplicity, efficiency and low operating cost [11]. As a nontoxic and environmentally friendly adsorbing material, micro/nanostructured MgO has been fabricated to possess desirable morphologies and adsorption performance.

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