Direct immobilization of Se(IV) from acidic Se(IV)-rich wastewater via ferric selenite Co-precipitation

Zidan Yuan; Rui Su; Xu Ma; Le Yu; Yuanming Pan; Ning Chen; Roman Chernikov; Leo Ka Long Cheung; Reza Deevsalar; Ayetullah Tunc; Liang Wang; Xiangfeng Zeng; Jinru Lin; Yongfeng Jia

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132346

Direct immobilization of Se(IV) from acidic Se(IV)-rich wastewater via ferric selenite Co-precipitation

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Oct 15:460:132346. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132346. Epub 2023 Aug 19.

Authors

Zidan Yuan¹, Rui Su², Xu Ma³, Le Yu⁴, Yuanming Pan⁵, Ning Chen⁶, Roman Chernikov⁶, Leo Ka Long Cheung⁵, Reza Deevsalar⁵, Ayetullah Tunc⁵, Liang Wang⁷, Xiangfeng Zeng¹, Jinru Lin⁸, Yongfeng Jia¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
² College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou 121001, China.
³ School of Environment and Resources, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian 116600, China.
⁴ Specialized robotBG, Siasun Robot Automation Co., LTD, Shenyang 110168, China.
⁵ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK S7N 5E2, Canada.
⁶ Canadian Light Source, 44 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon SK S7N 2V3, Canada.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China. Electronic address: jinru.lin@iae.ac.cn.

PMID: 37611390
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132346

Abstract

The attenuation of acidic Se(IV)-rich wastewater, including those associated with acid mine drainage (AMD) and nonferrous metallurgical wastewater (NMW), presents a serious environmental challenge. This study investigates the effects of diverse factors from pH values to Se(IV)/Fe(III) molar ratios, initial Se(IV) concentrations, and alkali neutralization agents on the direct co-precipitation of ferric selenites in AMD and NMW systems involving different orders of Fe(III) and alkali addition. Our results show that amorphous sulfate-substituted ferric (hydrogen) selenite and Se(IV)-bearing ferrihydrite-schwertmannite are the major Se(IV)-attenuation solids except that gypsum is an additional phase in the NMW system with Ca(OH)₂ neutralization. Produced ferric selenites achieve 98-99.8% of Se(IV) immobilization under optimal conditions of pH 4.5, Se(IV)/Fe(III) molar ratios of 0.0625-0.5, and initial Se(IV) concentrations of 0.15-1.3 mmol·L^-1. Moreover, completing FeSO₄⁺ and FeHSeO₃²⁺/FeSeO₃⁺ complexes as well as different ferric selenite co-precipitates are shown to collectively control aqueous Se(IV) remaining. Specifically, three distinct trends of aqueous Se(IV) concentrations separately correspond to changes in the four factors. The co-precipitation in the NMW system via pH adjustment followed by Fe(III) addition is more efficient for Se(IV) fixation than that in the AMD system because of minimal complexation, concurrent Fe(III) hydrolysis, and enhanced ferric selenite co-precipitation in the former.

Keywords: Acid mine drainage; Adding order; Ferric selenite; Immobilization; Nonferrous metallurgical wastewater; Se(IV).