Determinación de las isotermas y cinéticas de adsorción de metales pesados (Zn, Cr, Pb, Ni, Cu) sobre adsorbentes de zeolita y piroclasto volcánico para el tratamiento de aguas residuales de lavadoras automotrices del cantón Ambato

Abstract

Wastewater from human activity and industry mostly ends up in water effluents without any prior treatment, which exacerbates the level of contamination of this resource, these practices cause the decrease in water availability. Automotive washing machines generate high loads of hydrocarbons and heavy metals of which vehicles are composed, which is why the objective of the project was the determination of isotherms and kinetics of adsorbent materials on the wastewater of automotive washing machines in the Ambato canton. The present experimental research project consists of an analysis of adsorption isotherms on heavy metals with known initial concentrations of heavy metals, applying linear adjustment and models of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, for which the adsorption capacity of a porous material (pyroclast) and materials with a high degree of ion exchange (mordenite zeolite and cliptonilolite) was evaluated. In addition, the adsorption efficiency of the materials was verified on a sample of synthetic water (distilled water and metal) and one of matrix water (wastewater and metal cations), thus executing a simple adsorption process and a competitive adsorption system, for the preparation of samples the regulations of the Unified Text of Secondary Environmental Legislation (TULSMA) were taken as reference. Finally, it was shown that adsorbent materials can decrease the concentration of heavy metals in wastewater, removing up to 95 percent of the initial load of contaminants.