Sorption studies of diethylketone in the presence of Al3+, Cd2+, Ni2+ and Mn2+, from lab-scale to pilot scale

Abstract

The toxic effects of diethylketone (DEK) in aqueous solution with different concentrations of Al³⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Mn²⁺ were evaluated at lab-scale. It was established that Streptococcus equisimilis is able to efficiently remove DEK with different concentrations with heavy metals. It was proved that this joint-system has excellent capacity to biodegrade high concentrations of DEK in the presence of Al³⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Mn²⁺. With the exception of Al³⁺, the uptake for all metals increased as the initial concentration of each metal in the mixed solution increased. The breakthrough curves are best described by the Adams and Bohart model for Cd²⁺, by the Yoon and Nelson model for Ni²⁺ and by the Wolborska model for Mn²⁺.

Keywords: Breakthrough curves; Streptococcus equisimilis; diethylketone; heavy metals; kinetics.