Waste recycling and industrial wastewater treatment have always been of interest. A green approach was developed for the filtrate of synthetic gypsum production from water treatment coagulation sediments and spent sulfuric acid. Due to the high concentration of iron sulfate, concentrated filtrate showed good coagulation results, which were 5% lower than pure iron sulfate. In addition, a high concentration of iron facilitates its use as a precursor for synthesizing magnetic sorbents and photocatalysts. Such materials were synthesized by the solution combustion synthesis method. Oil sorption capacity reached 1.8 g/g, comparable to some synthetic materials and higher than sorption materials based on natural materials. Photodegradation of acid telon blue dye after 90 min of irradiation time was 82.7% with catalyst derived from filtrate compared to the just dye solution with 17.6% efficiency. The reaction rate constant for the photocatalyst sample was up to 11.4-fold higher compared with only UV treatment. The neutralized filtrate containing sulfur, calcium, magnesium, and sodium has been tested as a complex fertilizer. The results of bioindication for oil radish showed up to a 15% increase in the shoot length. A number of techno-economic indicators show that such an approach is advantageous from a technological, environmental, and economic point of view.
Keywords: Binder; Catalysts; Coagulation; Fertilizer; Gypsum; Oil sorption; Photocatalyst; Spent sulfuric acid; Water treatment sediment.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.