Adsorption of Cr(VI) on ureolytic mixed culture from biocatalytic calcification reactor

Ca-rich water and wastewater have caused problems in water use, wastewater reuse and the operations of reactors treating Ca-rich wastewater. Nowadays, reuse of wastewaters is fast gaining importance as water sources have been polluted. Therefore, the concept of biocatalytic calcification reactors (BCR) based on urea hydrolysis, pH increase and calcite production has been studied to remove Ca from wastewaters. This biological process produces significant amounts of waste sludge. In the present study, Cr(VI) adsorption on the ureolytic mixed culture (UMC) waste by-product from BCR was investigated to evaluate its potential for metal removal. The biosorption process was investigated using equilibrium batch tests and the data were fit to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models. The Cr(VI) ion concentration dependence of sorption (1–100 mg/L) could be fit to the Langmuir isotherm model. Monolayer adsorption capacity, qm (mg/g), of the adsorbent was 8.67 and the Langmuir constant b (L/mg) was 0.881. Based on the obtained results, the waste UMC appears to be a potential biosorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) from wastewater, although its adsorptive capacity is lower than those of other biosorbents.