Evaluation of Turbidity and Color Removal in Water Treatment: A Comparative Study between Opuntia ficus-indica Fruit Peel Mucilage and FeCl3

Autor: Maria Carolina Otálora, Andrea Wilches-Torres, Carlos Rafael Lara, Jovanny A. Gómez Castaño, Gabriel Ricardo Cifuentes
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Polymers, Vol 15, Iss 1, p 217 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2073-4360
DOI: 10.3390/polym15010217
Popis: 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 (FeCl3). 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 FeCl3 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 FeCl3 was charge neutralization. The results obtained showed that the mucilage could be used as an alternative coagulant to replace FeCl3.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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