Study of kinetic and fixed bed operation of removal of sulfate anions from an industrial wastewater by an anion exchange resin

Sulfate anions represent very important wastewater pollutants, which appear in the effluents discharged from copper mines. In this study, for the first time, an attempt has been made on the removal of sulfate anions by an ion exchange resin. This work is focused on the removal of sulfate anions from the Sarcheshmeh copper complex (Kerman province, Southeast of Iran) wastewater by an anion exchange resin. Batch experiments of sulfate anions adsorption on Lewatit K6362 resin were carried out to determine the adsorption equilibrium data and the relation of adsorption isotherms. Isothermal data can be fitted with Freundlich adsorption isotherms better than Langmuir equation. The results show that maximum removal of sulfate anions take places in the resin dosage of 1000 mg/100 ml and the adsorption of sulfate anions on the resin follows reversible first-order kinetics. The overall adsorption rate constants were compared for different initial concentrations. Finally, the effects of parameters such as the flow rate, bed height and inlet adsorbate concentration on the breakthrough curve in a fixed bed column were studied in detail.