Lead, nickel, and copper removal by chemical precipitation using calcined Black Sea mussel shells

Abstract

In this study, removal of heavy metals from wastewaters by chemical precipitation using calcined Black Sea mussel shells was investigated. The mussel shell used was primarily powdered and then calcined mussel shell powder was obtained by applying calcination pretreatment, and this material was used in removal studies of lead, nickel, and copper heavy metals. The chemical precipitation performance of conventional calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide chemicals was also examined to make a comparison in the studies. The most suitable treatment conditions were determined by conducting dosage and initial heavy metal concentration experiments for all precipitating agents. As a result of experiments, high treatment efficiencies such as 98.79, 99.67 and 99.37% were achieved in treatment of lead, nickel, and copper heavy metals by calcined mussel shell powder, respectively. It has been determined that effective heavy metal removal can be achieved at close dosages of calcined mussel shell powder and other chemicals. Mussel shell caused to obtain lower final pH values despite providing these higher efficiencies. When all these factors are considered together, it has been exhibited that calcined mussel shell powder can be an alternative to other precipitating agents because it is a natural material and abundant in nature.