Arsenic(V) Removal by Sulfate Modified Iron Oxide-Coated Sand (SMIOCS) in a Fixed Bed Column

A novel granular media developed by the coating of iron, barium and sulfur on quartz sand surface has been demonstrated to be an effective sorbent for removal of arsenic(V) from a 0.01 M NaNO3-spiked distilled water system in laboratory-scale tests. The results of fixed bed studies indicate that arsenic(V) removal is dependent on pH, the size of sorbent and influent arsenic concentrations. The particle size of media has shown significant differences in reactor breakthrough times in similar experimental conditions. The removal of As(V) may be explained using the surface complexation theory. The presence of alkalinity (250–260 mg/L as CaCO3) and hardness (200 mg/L as CaCO3) slightly increases reactor breakthrough time for similar experimental conditions without alkalinity and hardness. Desorption studies using 0.2 M NaOH as elutant resulted in nearly 92% recovery of arsenic(V). A theoretical model based on two parameters has shown good correlation with observed experimental data generated during depth variation studies.