STUDY THE USE OF ORGANOCLAY PREPARED FROM IRAQI BENTONITE IN THE PURIFICATION OF INDUSTRIAL WATER FROM LEAD

Abstract

Lead (Pb) is one of the major environmental pollutants. Adsorption appears to the most widely used for the removal of heavy metals. The aim of this work is to investigate the adsorption potential of organoclay in the removal of Pb (II) ions from aqueous solution. The effect of different variables, such as, concentration of Pb, mass of organoclay, pH and time were investigated. The adsorption experiments were carried out using batch process. The organoclay was prepared by combination of Iraqi bentonite with quaternary amine cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (CTAMCL). XRD and FTIR diagrams of the prepared organoclay showed considered differences from those for natural bentonite which indicates the exchange of quaternary amine with Ca++ ions at the surface of bentonite. The experimental results show that under the conditions: the grain size of organoclay 75µm, amount of organoclay (10 g/L), pH (3.5), modifier dosage (5 g) and adsorption time (60 min.), the removal efficiency of lead from the waste water can reach 100 %.