Adsorption of hexavalent chromium by crosslinked chitosan-iron(III) in an air-lift reactor

Column experiments were conducted in an airlift reactor containing a certain amount of crosslinked chitosan-iron(III) (Ch-Fe), to examine the effects of adsorbent mass, flow rate, and influent concentrations on Cr(VI) removal. The breakthrough time increased with an increase in Ch-Fe mass, but decreased with an increase in initial Cr(VI) concentration. The exhaustion time decreased with an increase in initial Cr(VI) concentration. The capacity at the breakthrough point increased with an increase in Ch-Fe mass, flow rate, and initial Cr(VI) concentration. The capacity at the exhaustion point increased with an increase in flow rate, but showed no specific trend with an increase in initial Cr(VI) concentration. The bed volumes at breakthrough point increased with an increase in Ch-Fe, flow rate and Cr(VI) concentration. The adsorbent exhaustion decreased with an increase in flow rate and Ch-Fe, but increased with an increase in initial Cr(VI) concentration. Columns with large amounts of Ch-Fe are preferable for obtaining optimal results during the adsorption process. The higher the flow velocity, the better the column performance. The Thomas, Clark and Yoon-Nelson models were applied to the experimental results. Good agreement was observed between the predicted theoretical breakthrough curves and the experimental results.