Removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) from aqueous solutions using batch and fixed-bed ion exchange processes

There are many methods available to remove heavy metal ions from waters and wastewaters. Among those methods, ion exchange is the most simple and efficient one. The chelating exchange resin Amberlite IRC 748, which has iminodiacetic acid (IDA) functional ligand, was used in this work to remove Cu2+ and Ni2+ from synthetic aqueous solutions. Batch exchange experiments showed that the Langmuir equation could well describe the isotherm data on a macroscopic basis. Batch elution experiments using the solutions of EDTA, citrate, and HCl were compared. Fixed-bed experiments were finally performed at different inlet pH values (2.0–5.0), metal concentrations (4.73–18.9 mol/m3), and volumetric flow rates (1–3 cm3/min). The Thomas model that consists of two parameters was applied to follow the exchange dynamics. It was shown that the calculated breakthrough curves agreed well with the measured ones (standard deviation 6%).