Grantee Research Project Results
A Novel Extractant for the Selective Removal of Arsenic from Industrial Wastewaters
EPA Contract Number: 68D50115Title: A Novel Extractant for the Selective Removal of Arsenic from Industrial Wastewaters
Investigators: Gleason, Kevin
Small Business: TDA Research Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: September 1, 1995 through January 1, 1998
Project Amount: $220,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase II (1995) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , SBIR - Water and Wastewater , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
The combustion of fossil fuels, particularly coal, introduces large quantities of arsenic into the environment, much of which reaches natural waters. Acute arsenic poisoning results from ingestion of only 100 mg of the element, while chronic poisoning occurs with the continued ingestion of smaller amounts. Processes developed for arsenic removal from drinking water are appropriate for small volumes of water with low levers of dissolved and suspended solids, are only feasible when competing anions such as sulfates or chlorides are absent, and, therefore, are too expensive for the treatment of industrial wastewaters.TDA Research proposes to develop specialty extracts to remove arsenic from the contaminated waters, such as waste streams emanating from coal-fired power plants and acid mine drainage. In Phase I, they synthesized and characterized novel metal-chelating ligands and demonstrated, through batch extraction and stripping experiments, the technical feasibility of using these complexes to selectively extract arsenic over competing anions like sulfates. The Phase II effort will expand upon the Phase I results by developing extractants based on other metal-ligand complexes and by optimizing the present series of extractants. The Phase II effort will conclude with a test of the extractants in continuous solvent extraction and stripping experiments.
Supplemental Keywords:
RFA, Scientific Discipline, Toxics, Water, Waste, National Recommended Water Quality, Wastewater, Environmental Chemistry, Arsenic, Atmospheric Sciences, Chemistry and Materials Science, Incineration/Combustion, Environmental Engineering, metal chelate complexes, wastewater treatment, combustion byproducts, industrial wastewater, wastewater remediation, arsenic removal, emissions, air pollution, acid rock drainage, wastewater discharges, coal fired power plants, effluents, metal chelating ligands, coal combustion, arsenic exposure, aqueous waste streamProgress and Final Reports:
SBIR Phase I:
A Novel Extractant for the Selective Removal of Arsenic from Industrial WastewatersThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.