Articles

Indian Journal of Chemical Technology

Vol. 10, Janu ary 2003, pp. 72-78

Comparative studies on adsorptive removal of chromium from contaminated

water using different adsorbents
Ajay Meena & Chitra Rajagopal *
Centre for Environment & Explosive Safety, Metcalfe House, Delhi 110 054, Indi a
Received 6 September 2001; revised received 11 May 2002; accepted 22 September 2002

Chromium, especially the hexavalent form, is toxic to humans. Industries like chrome plating, textile,
electroplating discharge Cr(VI) in their effiuents. Wastes containing chromium are environmentally persistent and
toxic, and cannot be degraded or detoxified biologically. Various techniques developed for the removal of heavy
metals include chemical precipitation, ion exchange and adsorption. Activated carbon adsorption systems though
widely used are very expensive and the regeneration cost is also very high. Therefore, their use in wastewater
treatment may not be economically feasible. There is, therefore, a need to identify and study adsorptive
characteristics of low cost alternatives. The present investigation was, therefore, undertaken to select suitable locally
and commercially available adsorbents such as activated alumina, ion exchange resin, with special attention to low
cost adsorbents like saw dust, treated saw dust and sand, and to carry out a comparative study of their applicability
to heavy metal removal. The results of these studies are presented in this paper.

There are two predominant forms of chromium, industrialists and the environmentalists fo r the safe
trival ent and hexavalent, which are found in industrial and effective disposal of wastes containing heavy
wastewaters 1• The hexavalent form Cr(YI), is more metals .
4

toxic to humans than the trivalent form. In the animal
ex periments, acutely toxic doses of Cr(III) fall in the
range of g/kg of body weight. Dietary intake of
Cr(VI) in mg/L levels produces chronic toxicity
causing erosion of gastrointestinal tract and kidney
lesio ns. Human health is affected when exposed to
Cr(VI) in excess of prescribed level. The oral human
lethal dose (LO) is 71 mg/kg while according to the
occupational safety and health association (OSHA):
permi ss ible ex posure limit (PEL), time waited
average (TWA) value is I mg/m 3 . Cr(YI) can generate
serious di sorders and di seases (skin ulcerations and
lung cancer) when accumulated at high levels and it
can ultimately become lethal 2 . Major industries
di scharging Cr(VI) in thei r e ffluents are
chromoplating, tex tile, leather tanning, electroplating,
pigment and dyes, metallurgical, metal finishing,
photography and wood preserving. Small amounts are
used in drilling muds, as rusts and corrosion inhibitors
and toner for copying machines 3 . Wastes containing
heavy metal s like chromium are environmentally
persistent and toxic. Heavy metals are generally
refractory and cannot be degraded or detoxified
biologically . Hence, it is a challenging task for the
*For correspondence (E-mail: ceesd rdo@bol.net.i n,
c.: hit_ rajagopal @ hotm ail.co m; Fax: 0 11-3914960)
Various techniques, which have been deve loped for
the removal of heavy metals, include chemical
precipitation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, ion
flotation, evaporation and adsorption . Activated
carbon adsorption systems are widely used, and are
playing an important role in cleaning up industrial and
municipal wastewaters. In waste treatment, the
process of adsorption has an edge over other methods
due to its sludge free clean operation 5•7 . Remova l of
chromium from wastewater by adsorption o n
activated carbon was studied by a number of
investigators 8 . Though activated carbon is an ideal
9
adsorbent for the remov.al of chromium , its high cos t
prohibits its application in the wastewater treatment.
Although it can be regenerated by chemi cal and
thermal treatment, regeneration cost is itself very
high , and its use in wastewater treatment may not be
economically feasible. This has pro mpted the present
study which is aimed at identifyi ng a few loca ll y
available and low cost adsorbents fo r the remova l of
hexavalent chromium from contaminated water. Some
work has been already done in thi s area using specific
adsorbents 10. 14 . However, not much work on
comparative adsorptive behaviour of various low cost
adsorbents has been undertaken.
The present investigation was, therefore,
undertaken to study the suitability of ac ti vated
Meena & Rajagopal: Removal of chromium from contaminated water using adsorbents
alumina, ion exchange resin and other locally and
commercially available low cost adsorbents such as
saw dust, treated sawdust and sand for heavy metal
removal.
Experimental Procedure
The treatability studies were carried out in a phased
manner to study the effect of various operating
parameters on the adsorption characteristics. The
adsorbents studied were ion exchange resin, activated
alumina, saw dust, treated sawdust and sand.
Range of parameters studied
Volume of sample taken for each experiment 100 mL
Experimental conditions for phase -1
Phase I: Effect of variation in type of adsorbent.
Initial concentration= 2 mg/L
Contact time= 24 h
Amount of adsorbent = 1.0 g
On the basis of the results of these studies, the most
promisin g adsorbents were selected and used for
furth er experiments, to study th e effect of other
parameters .
Phase 2: Effect of variation in amount of adsorbent
Phase 3: Effect of contact time
Phase 4: Effect o f initial concentration
E.xperi111ental conditions for phases 2, 3 and 4
Initial concentration= 1-5 mg/L
Contact time= 24, 48 , 72 h
Amount of adsorbents = 0 .2 , 0.3, 0 .5 and lg
The results of these studies were used to obtain the
optimum conditions for maximum chromium removal
from solution.
Methods
Test solution
Stock solution of chromium(VI) was prepared by
dissolving required quantity of analysis grade
potassium dichromate in distilled demineralized
water. Solution of desired concentration was prepared
from the stock chromium solution by simple dilution
with di stilled demineralized water.
Preparation of treated sawdust
A saturated solution of ferrous sulphate was
prepared. Previously washed and dried sawdust was
Articles
soaked in this solution for 48 h, dried and then used
for the experiments.
Preparation ofpowdered activated alumina
The activated alumjna obtained from trade was
powdered and sieved to get powdered acti vated
alumina in the particle size range of 25-150 mesh
SIZe.
Batch experiments
Batch adsorption studies were carried out using
glass stoppered conical f!acks containing required
amount of test solution and adsorbent material. Th e
flasks containing the test solution and adsorbent were
shaken for the required time period. The contents
were centrifuged and filtered throug h Whatman filter
paper no. 41. The unabsorbed chromium in the filtrate
was estimated spectrophotometrically at 540 nm afte r
complexing with I ,5 diphenyl carbazide as pe r
standard method 15 • Blanks with and without adsorbent
were also run identically and used for background
correction.
The % Cr (VI) removal is calculated as follow s :
% Cr(VI) removal= (C0 -Ce) * 100/Co .. . ( I )
where,
Co = initial concentration of test solution , mg/L ,
Co = final equilibrium concentration of test soluti o n.
mg/L.
GBC UV/VIS Spectrophotometer was used fo r
spectrophotometeric analysis of Cr(Vl).
Results and Discussion
The results of the experime nts carried out for the
removal of hexavalent chromium from the synthe tic
samples using low cost adsorbents are di scussed
below .
Effect of adsorbent
Five different adsorbents , name ly , sand , sawdu st.
anion resin, powdered activated alumina and treated
sawdust, were used . Table I g ives the % removal fo r
chromium using each of the ad sorbents . From th e
table, it can be seen that the % removal is maximum
for treated sawdust followed by po wdered activated
alumina and anion resin. In view of the poor
chromium removal efficiencies usin g sawdu st and
sand, it was decided to continue th e remaining sets o f
experiments with ion exchan ge ani o n resi n, po wdered
activated alumina and treated sawdu st as adso rbents.
73
Articles Indi an J. C hem . Tec hn o!.. January 2003

Effect of initial Cr(Vl) concentration
The effect of initi al Cr(YI ) concentration on the
percentage removal of Cr(YI) at various adsorbent
dosages for treated sawdust, acti vated alumina and
ion exchange res in are shown in Figs 1-3 . It can be
seen fro m th e figures that the percentage removal
decreases with the increase in initial Cr(YI )
concentrati on, the other parameters i.e. type of
adsorbent, adsorbent dosage and time of contact
remaining co nstant. From Fig. 1, fo r treated sawdust
as adsorbent, it is seen th at the % re moval is almost
co mpl ete (nearl y 100%) throughout the initi al
concentrati on range studi ed ( l-5 mg/L) for 0.5 g
adsorbent dose and a contact time of 72 h. The graph
fo r 0.5 g dose and contact time of 48 h is simil ar
except fo r a sli ght drop in percentage removal at
hi ghe r initi al concentrati ons. Thi s is followed by the
graph for 0.5 g and 24 h, thu s showing dec rease in %
removal with decreasing contact time. The effect of
dec reasing co ntact time is more apparent at hi gher
init ial concentrati ons. The trend is repeated for other
Tab le !- Percentage re mov::ll of chromiu m usin g va ri o us
ad so rbents
Initial co ne.: 2 ppm. contac t time: 24 h, sample vo lum e: 100 mL
Dose Sand Sawd ust T reated Powde red
g rn/ L s:Jwdu st ac ti v:J ted
alumin a
5 10 80.5 99.5 99
10 15 82 100 100
120
adsorbent doses (0.3 & 0.2 g). The only di screpancies
are in the case of 0. 3 g dose and 24 h, whi ch show
lower percentage removal than 0. 2 g dose for 72 h an d
0.2 g dose for 48 h throughout the concentratio n
range studi ed. The percentage removal graphs
for 0.2 g 48 h and 0.3 g 24 h are simil ar, show ing a
sharp drop in % removal at ini tial co ncentrati ons
greater th an 2 mg/L. Thi s trend is es pec iall y
noticeabl e for lower adsorbent dosage and co nt ac t
time.
From Fig. 2 for powdered activated alumina as
adsorbent, it is seen th at there is no significa nt
difference in % removal with 0.5 g fo r 72 h, 0.5 g fo r
48 h, 0.3 g fo r 72 h, 0.3 g for 48 h and 0.2 g for 72 h
throughout the range of initial concentrati ons stu died .
For a contact time of 24 h however, there is a clea r
difference in % remov al with adsorbent dosage, 0.5 g
gives th e hi ghest and 0.2 g gives the lowest with a
sharp drop in % removal for initi al co ncentrati ons > 2
mg/L. Similar trend is observed fo r ani on res in as
adsorbent.
Figure 3 co mpares the % removal using powdered
activated alumina, treated sawdu st and ani on res in fo r
0.5g adsorbent and 48 h co ntact time. Ani on resin
gives th e best res ults, giving nearl y 100% removal or
Ani on
res in
Cr(YI) up to 3 mg/L level after whi ch it sli gh tl y
decreases to about 99 .8% fo r hi gher co ncent rati ons.
Activated alumin a is hi ghl y effecti ve upto I mg/L
97.5 after whi ch % remov al decreases gradu all y to below
99.5 99% at 5 mg/L, treated sawdu st shows th e lowes t %

100

>
u 80
c>
0
E
Q) 60 -o-Q.5CJr 24h
0:: ~.5g , 48h
~ *"<l.5q, 72h
4 -*0.~ , 24h
-+-0.5q , 48h
--Lr-0.3CJ' 72h
--o.2q , 24h
-o-0.2q , 48 h
-o-0.29' 72h
0
2 3 4 5
Initial Cone. of Cr(VI), mg/1

Fig. !- Initi al co nce ntr:Jti o n versus % re moval of Cr(V I) usin g tre:Jted s:Jwdu st

74
Meena & Raj agopal: Re moval of chro miu m from contami nated water using adsorbe nts Articles

101
100 Adsorbent - Treated S<Jwd!Jst, Contact time- 48 h
120
99

~
:@
9 100
97
~ -+- 0.5gm, 24 h 80
-o- 0.5gm 1 48 h
u 96
~ 0.5gm I 72h ~
60
0
95 .,
0
>
0
E 94
-- 0.3gm 1 24h
...,... 0 . ~1 43 h
i 40 ..
-& !ppm

~
"
a::
93
...... o.3gm 1 72h
• o.2gm 1 24h
~ 0.2am. 48h
..
cr

20
+
2ppm
3ppm
...... 4ppm
92 -- 0.2gml 72h -1t- 5ppm

91 0
0 0 .1 0 .2 0.3 0.4 0.5
0 2 4 6 8
Amount of adsorbent 1 g
Initial Cone. mg/1

Fig. 2- lniti al co nce ntrati o n versus % re moval of C r(V I) using Fig. 4- Effec t of adsorpti o n dosage o n % re moval o f C r(Y I) fo r
ac tivated alu min a treated saw du st

Initial Cone. - 2 ppm, Conlocl lime - 48h

Amount of adsorbent - 0.5 g
Contact lime - 48 h
101
100
100.5 99
5 98

s~
100 3 97
~ ~ 96
u
99.5
~ . 95
94
-+ Treoled sowd!Jsl
~ 99 Q:
_._ Activoled alumino
0
.. 93
-A- Anion resin
~ 98.5 92
0:::
~ Tr eated sawdust
~ 98 91
..._ Anion resin
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
97.5 +------.-----r----.----~----' Amooot of adsorbent (~)
2 3 4 5
Initial ( Oil(. ITICJ/I
Fig. 5- Effec t of adsorpt ion dosage o n % removal of Cr(Y I) fo r
Fig. 3- Init ial co ncent rati o n ve rs us% re moval o f C r(Y l) fo r diffe re nt adso rben ts
d iffe re nt adsorbent s
[t is observed that there is a sharp increase in %
remova l at low initi al concentration s below 3 mg/L remov al wi th adsorbent dose fo r powdered acti vated
but is somewhat better than activated alu mina at alu mi na, ri sing from abo ut 92% for 0. 2g dose to
hi gher concentrati ons. nearly 100% fo r 0 .3 g. Treated sawdust does not show
much variati o n fo r low adso rbent dosages but
Effect of adsorbent dose increases graduall y to 100% for 0 .5 g dose. Ani on
Th e res ults for adsorpti ve removal of hexavalent res in shows uniform ly high % removal over the entire
chromium with respect to adsorbent dose are shown range of adsorbent dosage studi ed .
in Figs 4 and 5. T he % removal of Cr(VI) is seen to
increase with increase in adsorbent dose. From Fig . 4, Effect of contact time
for treated sawdu st as adsorbent, it is observed that Fi gure 6 shows the variat io n in the % remova l o f
the effect o f increase in adsorbent dose is mos t Cr(Yf) with contact time using 0.5 g of treated
noti ceable fo r 5 mg/L initi al concentrations. % sawdust, fo r varying initial concentrati o ns rang in g
removal curves for lower initi al concentrati ons show from 1-5 mg/L. lt is observed th at for dilute so luti on
more grad ual ri se with adsorbent dose. The curve fo r o f I mg/L concentratio n, th e percentage remova l is
I mg/L initi al concentratio n shows 100% removal I 00 % even at the lowest contact time of 24 h. At
throughout the range of contac t time studi ed (24 h to hi gher initial concentrati ons, th e % removal is nearl y
72 h). Fig. 5 shows the co mparative behaviour o f I 00% for 72h , but decreases with decreas ing contac t
vary ing adsorbents with increas in g adsorbent dosage. time. The effect of contact time is most noti ceable fo r

75
Articles In dian J. Chem . Techno!. . January 2003

~---- Adsorbent - 0 .5gm, treated sawdust 100.5 Amooot of adsorbent - 0.5 IJ1l
Initial Cone. - 2ppm
102 1 100

:: ~ = 99.5
2:
.:;
-e
99

~96 L_
-+-tppm
-o-2ppm i
cr
98.5
-& onion resin
~ 94
... 98
~
-<>-3ppm ... treated sawrust
a::
92
...-...<lppm
... 90 --5ppm
97.5 -6- activo1ed olunino

97
88 --~---------~--------r-------~
0 20 40 60 60
0 20 40 60 80
Time h
Time , h

Fi g. 6- Effect of contact tim e on % removal of Cr(V I) for Fig. 7-Effecl of con tact time on % remo val of Cr(V l) fo r
treated saw du st different adsorbent s

Table 2-Effecl of p H o n perce ntage re moval of chromium( VI)

th e case of initi a l co ncentrati o n of 5 mg/L, where the using vario us ad sorben ts
% removal drops to nearl y 90 % for 24h contact time. Initi al co ne.: 3 ppm, con tact Lime: 4!\h. sam ple vo lume: I00 mL
Simi lar variation of % rempval wi th con tact time is pH Percenta oe re moval
observed for other adso rbe nts. Treated Powdered ac ti vated Ani o n
Fig ure 7 shows th e co mparati ve % removal usi ng sawdu st alumina Res in
0.5 g eac h of a ni on resi n, treated saw dus t and 2 71 85.2 90
powdered activated alumina for an initi a l 4 86.2 90 98
concentrati o n of 2 mg/L for vary ing contact times. It 6 99 .3 99.4 99.9
is observed that in a ll cases the % re moval is 8 68 92 91
comparati vely lower for 24 h contact time, with 10 85 !18
60
in creas in g remova l effic ienci es at hi g her co ntact time.
12 58 62 !14
In the case of an io n resin, the over all % effici enc ies
at any con tact time are the highest. Powdered
ac ti vated a lumin a shows lower removal % th an ani on treated sawd ust, powdered act ivated a lumin a and
res in and treated saw du st fo r 24 h contact time but anion resin could be sati sfactoril y used at neutra l p H
the rise in % removal with in creasi ng contact time is in the waste treatment plants.
steep, show in g nearly I 00% re moval beyond 48 h . On
the o th er hand , % removal w ith treated sawdu s t Adsorption isotherm
increases graduall y w ith contact time, reaching nearl y The adsorption studi es were co ndu cted at fixed
I 00% remova l on ly at aro und 72 h. initi al concentration of Cr(Y I) by vary ing adsorbent
dose. The equilibrium data obta ined was ana lyzed tn
EffectofpH the li ght of Lang muir and Freund lich isotherm s :
p H is one of the most im portant para meters
con tro llin g uptake of Cr(V I) fro m wastewater and The Freundlich equati o n is given by
aq ueo us so luti o ns. Table 2 shows th e effect of pH on
the C r(Y I) re mova l perform ance of a ll the three xlm = K Ce 11
" ... (2)
adsorbents. These studi es were conducted at a
cons tan t initi al Cr(YI) concentration of 3mg/L, Taking th e logarithmic form of th e eq uati on
adsorbent dose of 5gm/L and contact time 48h for al l
th e adso rbents. In a ll three adso rbe nts th e percentage log xlm =log K + lin log Ce ... (3)
adsorp ti on inc rease with pH to atta in a maximum at
pH 6.0 and thereafter it dec rease with any further Lan g muir equati o n is g ive n by
increase in pH . The maximum removal of Cr(YI) at
pH 6 was fou nd to be 99.3, 99.4 and 99.9 pe rcent x/m = abCe/( I + bCe) . .. (4)
respectively for treated sawd ust, powdered ac ti vated
a lumin a and a ni o n res in . These res ults indicate th at or

76
Mcc na & Rajagopa!: Removal of chromium from co ntamin ated water using adsorbents Articles

111/.x = (llab). (liCe) + lla ... (5) powdered activated alumina and least for treated
sawdust. This g ives a similar inference as th at
where, x/m is the amount of Cr(YI) adsorbed per unit obtained from Langmuir isotherms.
mass of adsorbent in mg/g, Ce is the equilibrium
concentration of Cr(VI) in mg!L, Ke and 11 are Amount of adsorbent - 0.5gm/ 100ml1
Freundlich constants, a is a Langmuir constant which 0.2 Contact time- 24hrs
is a measure of adsorpti o n capacity expressed in
0
mg/g, b is also a Lang muir constant which is a
measure of energy of adsorption expressed in L/mg.
-0.2
The paramete rs a and b have been calculated from the E
......
slope and the intercept of the plots. ~ - 0.4
Figure 8 gives the Freundlich adsorption isoth erm ""'
0
....J
plot of x/111 versus Ce. The values of K, and 1/n -0.6 -6- Activated alumino
obtained from intercept and slope of the plot are given 0 0 • Anion resin
in Table 3. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm plot for -0.8 -b-Treated sawdust
mix versus liC, is shown in Fig. 9 and the plots show
two distinct regions one fo r low liCe values up to -I
about 25 and another for hi gher liCe values . Thi s -3 - 2.5 -2 -1.5 -I -0.5 0
log (Cel
distinct beh av iour for the two different 1/C, ranges is
espec ially noticeabl e in th e case of treated sawdust.
Fig. 8-Freundlich isotherms for vari ous adsorbe nts for Cr(V I)
The essenti al characteristics of Langmuir isotherm
can be described by a separati o n factor or equilibrium
constant R 1, which is defi ned as Amount of adsorbent - 0.5gm/IOOml1 Contact time- 24h
6

R 1 = 11 (1 +bCi) .. . (6)

where, C; is th e initi al co ncentrat ion of Cr (VI) mg/L

4
and b is Langmuir constant which indicates the nature
of adsorption . The separation factor R 1 indicates the
isotherm shape and whether the adsorption is
favo urable or not, as per the crite ria given below . .<
"E 2 ~ Anion resi'i, 24h

Adsorption • Treated sawdust, 24h

unfavourab le ..... Activated alumina, 24h
favourab le
0+-------.--------.-------.------~
irreversibl e 200 300 400
0 100

The values of La ngmuir constants-- a, band R1. are 1/Ce, ppm-1

presented in Table 3. Since R1 values lie between 0
Fig. 9-Lang muir isoth erm s for Cr(VI) for va ri ous ad so rbent s
and 1 for all three adsorbe nt s studied, it is seen th at
the adsorpti on of Cr(Yl) is favourable.
Table 3-Va lues of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm constant s
Adsorpti on capac ity as indi cated by value of a is for adsorpti on of Cr(VT)
seen to be maximum for treated sawdu st i.e. 111 Amount of adsorben t= 0 .5 g m/ I 00 mL; cont ac t time = 2-l h
mg/g, followed by ani on res in and activated alumin a Adsorbent Langmuir constant Freundlich constant
with much lower capacities of 17 and 10 mg/L, a b
respectively . The energies o f adsorption , as indicated mg/g m L/mg
by b are seen to be hi ghest for anion resi n, foll owed
Ani on resin 17.1468 1.3947 0.2389 2. 1406 0.4599
by activ ated alumin a and treated sawdu st, in th at
Treated 111.6 11 3 0.7884 0.4227 1.30 19 0.290-l
order. A comparison of th e Freundlich adsorption sawdu st
isotherms for the three adsorbe nts show that 11 is Powdered 9 .569 1 1.2 155 0.2742 2. 1732 0.5992
maximum for treated sawd ust and minimum for ac ti vated
act ivated alumina. Ke is seen to be hi gher for alumina

77
Articles Indian J. Chem. Techno! .. January 20()]

Conclusion Acknowledgement
Preliminary screening studies showed that treated The authors are very grateful to Director CEES, for
sawdust, activated alumina and anion resin are providing encouragement and facilities for carrytng
promising adsorbents for Cr(VI) . On the basis of out this work.
detailed studies, the following conclusions were
reached . References
I Bandyopadhyay & Biswas M N. Indian J Em•iron Pro!.
(i) .Anion resin gives better % removal efficiencies 18(9) ( 1998) 662.
throughout the concentration range studied. 2 Ponagri S, Shyam R & Joshi S N. J lndi1111 A.1soc Em ·iron
Mgml , 27 (2000) 16.
(ii ) For higher concentration range i.e. higher than 2
3 Sujatha K M & Upadhyay S N. J lndim1 Assoc Em•iron
mg/L, a contact time of 48 h or more is Mgml , 22 ( 1995) 247.
recommended. 4 Rao M & Bhole A G, J Indian As.m c En viron Mg1111. "!. 7
(iii ) Adsorption on activated alumina is found to be (2000) 291.
mos t sensitive to the effect of contact time, 5 Chand Agrawal, V K & Pavan Kumar. 111{/ian ./ Em ·iron
dosage and initial concentration, followed by Health , 36 (3) ( 1994) 151.
treated sawdust. 6 Raji C & Anirudhan T S. Indian ./ Eng Mill er Sci. (4) ( 1997)
254.
(iv) When using large doses of adsorbent, effect of
7 Siddiqi Z M & Paroor S V, Indian J Em•iron Prot. 14 ( 1994 )
contact time and initial concentration are 277.
minimal. 8 Deepak D & Gupta A K, Indian J £i1vimn Heal!h. 33 ( 1991 )
297.
A comparison of the Langmuir isotherms show that 9 Huang C P & Wu W H. ./ Water Poll Coni Fed. 47 ( 1975 )
treated sawdu st has maximum adsorption capacity 2437.
while anion resin has maximum energy of adsorption. 10 Ajmal M R, Rao A K & Siddiqui B A. Water Res. 30 ( 1996 )
Experimental results are in good agreement with 1478.
Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. Freundlich II Rai A K. Upadhyay S N, Kumar S & Upadhyay Y D. ./
Indian Assoc Environ Mgmt, 25 ( 1997) 25 .
isotherm constants also give similar infere nce as that
12 Samantaroy S, Mohanty A K & Mi sra M. Indian./ En• ·imn
obtain ed from Lan g muir isotherms. The interaction of Prot. 18 (1998) 679.
Cr(V I) in so lution with Fe(ll) coated sawdu st surface 13 Singh R P, Yaishya R C & Prasad S C. Indian ./ Em•imn
leads to reducti on of Cr(VI) into Cr(III) and Prot. 12 ( 1992) 916.
simultaneously the oxidation of Fe(ll) into Fe(III) . 14 Singh D K, Mishra N K & Saxena D . ./ /11.1'1 Eng (1/1{/ia n )

They combine in situ to form insoluble iron-
16
chromium hydroxides, viz (CrxFe 1__ x)(OHh .
The results of the investigations would be useful in
developing an appropriate technology for designing a
waste treatment plant for the removal of Cr (VI).
Che111 Eng Dvn, 70 ( 1990) 91.
15 APHA, AWWA & WPCF. Swndard Methods j{1r
Examination of Wafer and Wastewa/ er. 19'h Ed n (American
Public Health Association, Washingto n. D C ). 1995.
16 Singh I B & Singh D R, In diem ./ Chem Tecluwl. R (200 I )
487.

78