Controllable H2S supply via membrane contactors for safe and efficient arsenic precipitation from acidic wastewater

Sulfide precipitation is a popular technique for the treatment and resource recovery of arsenic-containing dirty acid wastewater. However, this approach frequently suffers from toxic hydrogen sulfide (H2S) escape and agent wastage issues. Herein, a safe and efficient technique is proposed based on a polytetrafluoroethylene membrane contactor wherein the mass transfer resistance of the gas, membrane, and liquid phases can be easily and independently regulated to control the H2S supply. Additionally, H2S is transferred in bubble-free form, fundamentally avoiding the issue of gas escape, and uniform membrane distribution contributes to evenly distributed H2S delivery. The results demonstrated that 99.3 % arsenic precipitation could be achieved and the H2S emission ratio was limited to < 0.12 %, which was significantly better than traditional methods. Thus, highly efficient separation and resource recovery of heavy metals in wastewater can be achieved using this unique and controllable low-dose H2S supply method. The separation factor between copper and arsenic was as high 7490.9. This study provides a safe, reliable, and promising new approach for the treatment of arsenic-containing acidic wastewater.