Adsorptive removal of major and trace metal ions from synthetic saline and real seawater samples onto magnetic zeolite nanocomposite: application of multicomponent fixed-bed column adsorption

This paper reports a continuous adsorption study by means of a fixed-bed packed column using zeolite/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite for the removal of Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Co, and Zn from synthetic brine solution and seawater samples. The surface, morphological and crystalline properties of the adsorbent were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Brunauer Emmett & Teller. These results obtained confirmed that zeolite was successfully modified with magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄). The effects of adsorption process parameters were optimized using response surface methodology based on central composite design. The optimum conditions were used to study the breakthrough curve on the fixed-bed adsorption of major and trace metals by zeolite/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite. The effects of bed mass, initial concentration, and flow rate were evaluated on synthetic water. The breakthrough time of the zeolite/Fe₃O₄ on Ca, Co, K, and Mg were achieved at 830, 290, 315, and 105 min, respectively. The volumes (in L) that were treated at a breakthrough point on Ca, Co, K, and Mg were 1.66, 0.58, 0.63, and 0.21 L. Adsorption data were correlated using the Thomas and Yoon–Nelson breakthrough models and the results agreed with experimental values. The zeolite/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite material was used on seawater treatment and the material proved to be an efficient adsorbent for treatment of Ca, K, Mg, Al, and Pb with percentage removal ranging from 83 to 99.9%.