| Autor: |
Otálora MC; Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas (NÚCLEO), Facultad de Ciencias e Ingeniería, Universidad de Boyacá, Tunja 150003, Colombia., Wilches-Torres A; Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas (NÚCLEO), Facultad de Ciencias e Ingeniería, Universidad de Boyacá, Tunja 150003, Colombia., Lara CR; Grupo Gestión de Recursos Hídricos, Facultad de Ciencias e Ingeniería, Universidad de Boyacá, Tunja 150003, Colombia., Gómez Castaño JA; Grupo Química-Física Molecular y Modelamiento Computacional (QUIMOL®), Escuela de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Sede Tunja, Avenida Central del Norte, Tunja 150003, Colombia., Cifuentes GR; Grupo Gestión de Recursos Hídricos, Facultad de Ciencias e Ingeniería, Universidad de Boyacá, Tunja 150003, Colombia. |
| Abstrakt: |
Natural coagulants derived from by-products have gained popularity as sustainable alternatives to inorganic coagulants in water/wastewater treatment due to their abundant availability, biodegradability, low cost, easy disposal and low sludge volumes. In this study, the mucilage obtained from the peel of Opuntia ficus-indica fruit was evaluated as a biocoagulant for treating synthetic turbid water and compared with a traditional chemical coagulant (FeCl 3 ). The effects of coagulant dosage and pH on the turbidity and color-removal efficiency of synthetic turbid water were analyzed. To estimate the coagulation mechanism, the flocs produced under optimal values were characterized structurally (FTIR and zeta potential) and morphologically (SEM). The optimal condition for the removal of turbidity and color was a coagulant dose of 12 mg/L at pH 13. For the optimal values, the biocoagulant and the FeCl 3 presented a maximum removal of 82.7 ± 3.28% and 94.63 ± 0.98% for turbidity and 71.82 ± 2.72% and 79.94 ± 1.77% for color, respectively. The structure and morphology of the flocs revealed that the coagulation mechanism of the mucilage was adsorption and bridging, whereas that of FeCl 3 was charge neutralization. The results obtained showed that the mucilage could be used as an alternative coagulant to replace FeCl 3 . |
