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International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research

Development
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017

REMOVAL OF HEAVY METAL BY USING PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL

TREATMENTS: A REVIEW

Manoj Kumar1,Umangi Patel2, Pooja Thaker 3, Hanee Patel4, Keyur Parmar5

1,2,3,4,5
Department of Environmental science & technology,
Shroff S R Rotary Institute of Chemical Technology, Vataria - 393135, Bharuch.

ABSTRACT: Heavy metal pollution is one of the major pollution in todays world. The aim of the study is to remove
heavy metals based on the treatment method applied to leachate from a municipal waste landfill. The sources of heavy
metals in leachate are industrial waste, municipal waste and many other waste. The highest concentrations of heavy
metals found in leachate are from young landfills in the acid fermentation phase and at very low pH. pH becomes neutral
and there is decrease in concentration of heavy metals due to solubility at both maturation and stabilization phases.
Heavy metals such as zinc, lead, cadmium and nickel are present in relatively high concentration at landfill site. This
treatment includes two processes: (i) Physical (ii) Biological. The physical treatment includes removal of heavy metals
by filtration mechanism using low cost orange peels. The biological treatment includes various bacteria for removal of
heavy metals. It is a comparative study of both the processes and can conclude the result.

KEYWORDS: orange peel biosorbent, heavy metal, landfilling, microorganisms

I. Introduction

Due to rapid increase in the concentration of heavy metal there is a necessity of efficient methods for the removal of
heavy metal from industrial wastewater stream before discharge so as to eliminate the risk on the human life as well as
on the aquatic environment. Amongst all the sources of heavy metal effluent one of the potential source is leachate from
landfill site.Though conventional method such as membrane process, chemical precipitation, electrochemical process, ion
exchange etc. are adopted still number of studies are being carried on the development of other process such as biological
treatment, treatment based on the bio sorption process etc. to supplement the conventional process so as to increase
removal efficiency. A leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended
solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed. Leachate is a widely used term in the
environmental sciences where it has the specific meaning of a liquid that has dissolved or entrained environmentally
harmful substances that may then enter the environment. Various methods tried by the researchers include adsorption,
biological methods, electro coagulation, electro dialysis and various membrane separation techniques among others.
Studies on biological methods are very important area of research with huge potential for research and applicability for
removal of heavy metals. Various biological methods include trickling filter, biosorption, activated sludge process and
various anaerobic methods [1]. This paper reports the potential of orange peels as adsorbents and further acetobacter as for
removal of heavy metals. The residues of orange peels can be processed and converted to be adsorbent because they have
large surface areas, high swelling capacities, excellent mechanical strengths and are convenient to use and have great
potential to adsorb harmful contaminants such as heavy metals.

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

II. Sources of heavy metals

Table 1: Various sources of heavy metal into the environment (Alluriet al., 2007), (Babel and Kurniawan, 2003) [2]

Heavy metals Sources of heavy metals Toxicities MCL (mg/l)

Arsenic Pesticides, fungicides,
metal smelters
Cadmium Welding, electroplating,
pesticide fertilizer, Cd-Ni
batteries
Zinc refineries, brass
manufacture, metal
plating, plumbing
Lead Paint, pesticide, smoking,
automobile emission,
mining, burning of coal
Mercury Pesticides, batteries,
paper industry
Skin manifestations, 0.05
visceral cancers, vascular
disease
Kidney damage, renal 0.01
disorder, human
carcinogen
Depression, lethargy, 0.8
neurological signs and
increased thirst
Damage the fetal brain, 0.06
diseases of the kidneys,
circulatory system and
nervous system
Rheumatoid arthritis, 0.00003
diseases of the kidneys,
circulatory system
and nervous system

Table 2: Conventional treatment for heavy metal removals (OConnell et al. 2008) [2]
Conventional treatment Advantages Disadvantages
Ion exchange Metal selective High initial capital and maintenance
High regeneration of materials cost
Chemical precipitation Simple operation High cost of disposal sludge
Non-metal selective Large production of sludge
Inexpensive cost
Membrane filtration Less production of solid waste High initial capital and maintenance
Low chemical consumption cost
Low flow rate
Electrochemical treatment Metal selective High initial capital cost
Potential treat effluent
> 2000 mg dm 3

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

III. Varioustreatment for removal of heavy metal

The commonly used procedures for removing metals ions from aqueous streams include:

A. Biosorption
B. By bacteria and microorganism
C. Activated sludge process
D. Biofilter
E. Anaerobic digestion
F. Stabilization Ponds
G. Others

In this paper, we are going to remove heavy metals by using orange peel as an absorbent, further we are going to treat the
leachate using biological treatment process i.e. by bacteria and microorganisms.

Bio-sorption:
The bio sorption process involves a solid phase (biosorbent; biological material) and a liquid phase (solvent, normally
water) containing a dissolved species to be sorbed (sorbate, metal ions). Due to higher affinity of the sorbent for the
sorbate species, the latter is attracted and bound there by different mechanisms.
The process continues till equilibrium is established between the amount of solid-bound sorbate species and its portion
remaining in the solution. The degree of sorbent affinity for the sorbate determines its distribution between the solid and
liquid phases.

By bacteria and microorganisms:

Bacterial is mainly used for the removal of heavy metals from waste water contaminated with pollutants that are not
biodegradable, like mercury, lead etc. However, their isolation, screening and harvesting on a larger scale may be
complicated but still remain one of the efficient way of remediating pollutants. Different bacterial strains were used for
the removal of different metal ions. Bacteria have evolved a number of efficient systems for detoxifying metals ions they
develop these resistance mechanisms mostly for their survival.

IV. Removal of heavy metal by using Orange Peel biosorbent

A. Preparation of orange peel powder

The physical treatment includes removal of heavy metals by adsorption followed by filtration mechanism using orange
peels.
Orange peels were cut into small pieces, dried, crushed, and washed thoroughly with double distilled water to remove the
adhering dirt. They were finally dried in an air oven at 100C for 24 hrs. After drying, the adsorbents were sieved.

B. Removal of heavy metal [3]

Orange peels were cut into small pieces, dried, crushed, and washed thoroughly with double distilled water to remove the
adhering dirt. They were finally dried in an air oven at 100C for 24 h. After drying, the adsorbents were sieved. The
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Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

particle sizes were 1 to 5 mm. Synthetic solutions were prepared from analytical-reagent grade CuSO4, CoSO4, NiSO4,
ZnSO4, and Pb(NO3)2. The sieved peels were treated separately with 0.4 mol L1 NaOH, 0.4 mol L1 HNO3, and
distilled water. A typical process of acid and alkali treatment was described as follows. Banana or orange peels (15 g)
were soaked in 200 mL of 0.4 mol L1 HNO3 for 24 h. They were filtered and rinsed with distilled water until the filtrate
was near neutral.

Figure 1 Bio-sorbent
[3]
C. Regeneration study
An amount of adsorbent (0.1 g) was treated with 100 mL of heavy metal solution (5 mg/L) in a conical flash and after
equilibrium times it was filtered. The adsorbent was then treated with 100 mL of HCl solution (0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07 mol
L1) for 24 h. The adsorbent was
washed several times with distilled water in order to remove excess acid. It was again treated with 100 mL of metal
solution and the above procedure was repeated.

D. Metal adsorption [3]

The adsorption ability decreases in the order Pb2+ > Ni2+ > Zn2+ > Cu2+ > Co2+ under comparable conditions. Such
trends are similar to those obtained previously for metal adsorption by orange peel (Ajmal et al., 2000), banana pith (Low
et al., 1995), and peanut hull carbon (Periyasamy and Namasivayam, 1996).
The most widely used two-parameter equation is the Langmuir equation, represented as:
1/qe = (1/qe) + (1/KLqmon)(1/Ce), (1)
Where KL is the Langmuir constant and qmon the amount adsorbed corresponding to complete coverage. A plot of
(1/qe) vs. (1/Ce) gives KL and qmon from the slope and intercept.
The adsorption capacities are 7.97 (Pb2+), 6.88 (Ni2+), 5.80 (Zn2+), 4.75 (Cu2+), and 2.55 mg/g (Co2+) at an
equilibrium pH of around 5.45.8 using banana peel; and are 7.75 (Pb2+), 6.01 (Ni2+), 5.25 (Zn2+), 3.65 (Cu2+), and
1.82 mg/g (Co2+) at an equilibrium pH of about 4.85.0 using orange peel.
The Freundlich equation is an empirical one used to describe the isotherm data:
lnqe = ln KF + (1/n)ln Ce.

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

V. Removal of heavy metal by microorganisms[1]

Illhan et.al has tried removal of chromium, lead and copper ions by microorganisms from industrial wastewater. They
investigated the effect of pH, temperature, initial concentration on the metal removal. The optimum pH values were
observed to be 2,3.5,4.5 respectively for these three metals. At the optimized conditions the bio sorption values were
found to be 88.66,100 and 44.94 mg/l respectively for chromium, lead and copper ions. They concluded that
Staphylococcus saprophytics was suitable mainly for lead and chromium. The removal of heavy metals by using native
accumulator plant was tried by Chehregani et.al. The carried out the research in order to analyze the capacity of native
accumulator plants to photo remediation of heavy metal. They used old waste pool of Pb for their study and collected the
plants in the area. They analyzed the soils near the plants and chose the plant with maximum metal uptake for the study.
They introduced the plants such as E. cheiradenia, R. lutea, S. excelsa, S. orientalis, C. oblonga and C. virgata. Isolation,
identification and characterization of heavy metal resistant bacteria was studied by Raja et.al. They collected the
wastewater samples across Madurai district. They isolated and characterized the bacteria and determined optimal growth
conditions. They also determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The sewage isolates showed optimum
growth at 30 C and pH 7.0determined at 30oC for 5 days. They observed that. The growth rate of the sewage bacteria in
the presence of heavy metal was consistently slower than the control. Also bacteria imaged in liquid appeared to have
smooth surfaces and apparently greater resolution of cell surface structures. Sharma et.al. have tried the biological
removal of the zinc by using Aspergillus sp. They developed the fungal strain in 100 ml conical flask. The initial pH was
5.6, and temperature of 30 degree Celsius. They conducted experiments using sugar concentrations of 10, 15 and 20g/l
and at dilution rates of 0.08, 0.04 and 0.02 per hour. They observed that there was no significant increase in the specific
zinc uptake with increase in sugar concentration.

The specific zinc uptake was found to be 120mg/g of dry biomass at 10g/l sugar concentration. Jong and Parry removed
heavy metals by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) in short-term bench scale up flow anaerobic packed bed reactor. They
filled reactor with silica sand and employed mixed population of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The activity of SRB
increased the water pH from 4.5 to 7.0, and enhanced the removal of sulfate and metals in comparison to controls not
inoculated with SRB. Metal removal efficiencies of more than 97.5% for Cu, Zn and Ni, and more than 82% for Fe were
achieved in the column experiments.

Procedure[4]
The tests were carried out in 3 steps as follows:
Step 1
In this experiment, 90 ml of the bacteria solution containing a known population of bacterial suspension was investigated
in the electrical cell. Five volts were maintained across the cell. Samples were withdrawn from the cell by means of a 1
mm syringe near the electrodes via the ports, and microphotographs were taken for these samples at different times in
order to visualize the charge of the bacteria type and concentrations at different electrodes.

Step 2
This step elaborates the growth of bacteria when the reactor contains a lead solution. For this case, a solution containing
30 ppm of lead was prepared from double distilled water and lead acetate. Both cells of the reactor were filled with
approximately 130 ml of this solution then 10 ml of thermophilic bacterial suspension were added into cell 1. In order to

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

maintain cell 1 well agitated, a mechanical stirrer rotating at a speed of 50 rpm was introduced in cell 1 at a position
located at 62 mm from the top, as shown in Figure 1. The solution of lead in cell 2 was not subject to any agitation. Even
though the concentration of lead was high, it was needed to observe biodegradation of lead and the resistance of bacteria
to lead. During the entire operation of the reactor, microphotographs were randomly taken from both cells. Samples were
withdrawn and tested by atomic absorption for lead content, and were observed under the microscope in order to assess
the growth mechanism, as well as to determine the bacteria growth rate and the rate of lead removal.

Step 3
This step was conducted to observe the rate of lead removal as function of initial lead concentration. The investigation of
the rate of lead removal by the bacteria was carried out in two sets of experiments. The first set implicated the study of
four solutions containing initial lead concentration of 7, 12.5, 20, and 30 ppm, respectively. The two cells of the reactor
were filled with the same lead solution. A two-ml of bacterial suspension was added to cell 1, which was continuously
agitated. Samples were withdrawn from both cells and analyzed with atomic absorption as function of time. The same
batch of experiments were repeated using 10 ml of bacteria.

VI. Factors affecting the adsorption of heavy metals[2]

Various factors influence the adsorption capacity of potential adsorbents during the adsorption process. Previous
researches have assumed that the efficiency of any adsorbent is strongly influenced by the physic chemical characteristics
of the solutions such as pH, temperature, initial concentration, contact time and also adsorbent dose.

Effect of pH: The effect of pH on banana peel has been investigated. The pH of the adsorption capacities of Cu (II) was
increased from 0.7 mg/g to 1.76 mg/g with the increase in pH from pH 2 to pH 6 which was because, free ion was
available at pH below than 6. However, the adsorption capacity decreased after pH 6 to pH 12. To explain this, at low
pH, the adsorption capacities lower than Cu ions compete with hydrogen ion for binding site on the adsorbent surface
while at higher pH, Cu ions started to precipitate in the solution.

Effect of Temperature: Depending on the types of adsorbent used, temperature can affect the adsorption capacity of
adsorbent. Temperature can change the adsorption equilibrium depending on the exothermic or endothermic nature of a
process. Enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy are such parameters that need to be determined before the spontaneity
of the process can be inferred.

Effect of Adsorbent Dose: Adsorbent dose is another parameter used to determine the capacity of adsorbent at a given
concentration of the adsorbate. The effect of adsorbent dosage on bael tree (BT) leaf powder to adsorb Ni(II) from
aqueous solutions is investigated The effects of adsorbent dosage were varied from 5 to 30g/L under room temperature
(30C) and with initial concentration at 10 mg/L. Result obtained from this study describes the adsorption of Ni(II) which
increases rapidly when the dose of BT leaf powder is increased from 5 to 20 g/L further explaining the large availability
of the surface area at higher concentration of adsorbent. Any further addition of the adsorbent beyond this would not
cause addition of the adsorbent beyond this would not cause overlapping adsorption sites of adsorbent particles.

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

VII. Conclusion

Biosorption is being an alternative to conventional methods for the removal of toxic heavy metals from industrial
effluents. These Conventional methods are expensive, hence the use of low cost, abundant environmentally friendly
biosorbents have to be used. The advanced development of the biosorption processes requires further improvement in the
direction of modelling, regeneration of biosorbent material and of testing immobilized raw biomasses with basic
industrial effluents. Biological methods are found to be effective for heavy metal removal. The presence of heavy metals
in the form of complex on the biological mass is cause of concern. The recovery of heavy metals from this biomass is
very important area of research. The recovery and regeneration are the two important factors which can make the
biological methods, a more attractive and economical alternative.

Acknowledgement

We like to thank Mr. Manoj Kumar of department of Environmental Science and Technology, SRICT for support and
guidance in this paper. We would also like to appreciate all the faculty of department of science and technology, SRICT.
We also thank Dr. Maulin Shah for continuous guidance in the project.

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