Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767

www.elsevier.nl/locate/wasman

Arsenic removal from aqueous solutions by adsorption on red mud

H. Soner AltundogÆan *, Sema AltundogÆan, Fikret TuÈmen, Memnune Bildik
Fõrat University, Department of Chemical Engineering, 23279 ElazõgÆ, Turkey

Received 26 June 1999; received in revised form 6 March 2000; accepted 21 March 2000

Abstract
Use of red mud, which is a waste product from bauxite processing, has been explored as an alternate adsorbent for arsenic in this
study. The tests showed that the alkaline aqueous medium (pH 9.5) favored the removal of As(III), whereas the pH range from 1.1
to 3.2 was e€ective for As(V) removal. The process of arsenic adsorption follows a ®rst-order rate expression and obeys the Lang-
muir's model. It was found that the adsorption of As(III) was exothermic, whereas As(V) adsorption was endothermic. It would be
advantageous to use this residue as an adsorbent replacing polyvalent metal salts. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Arsenic adsorption; Red mud; Langmuir isotherm

1. Introduction been reported to be more toxic than pentavalent and

organic arsenicals [2].
Although environmental restrictions and regulations The wastewaters from some industrial source such as
have limited the production and uses of arsenic and gold, copper and zinc ore extraction, acid mine drainage
its compounds, they are still extensively used in metal- and wood product preservation contain up to 130 mg 1ÿ1
lurgy, agriculture, forestry, electronics, pharmaceuticals soluble arsenic [3,4]. Also, potable waters in some parts
and glass and ceramic industry, etc. Arsenic, being one of the world have been found to contain 0.1±2 mg lÿ1
of the more toxic pollutants, is introduced into the arsenic [5,6]. The presence of arsenic in drinking water
environment through weathering of rocks and mine has been restricted to 0.05 mg lÿ1 [2].
tailings, industrial wastes discharges, fertilizers, agri- Arsenic is commonly removed from aqueous solutions
cultural employments of pesticides, smelting of metals by coprecipitation with polyvalent metal hydroxide
and burning of fossil fuels. ¯ocs such as iron(III) [7] and aluminum hydroxides
Arsenic occurs in ÿ3, 0, +3 and +5 oxidation states in [8,9].
aquatic systems. The elemental state is extremely rare The use of solid adsorbents in removing such pollu-
whereas ÿ3 oxidation state is found only at extremely tants from wastewater compares favorably with con-
reducing conditions. Arsenate species (pentavalent state) ventional precipitation or ¯occulation methods. For
are stable in oxygenated waters. Under mildly reducing example, in some ¯occulation treatments, a large
conditions, arsenites (trivalent state) predominate [1]. amount of salt must be added which introduces pollu-
Arsenic combines strongly with carbon in arsenical tants such as sulfate ions into the water. Moreover, the
organic compounds which are used as pesticides, chemo- cost of the chemical reagents used in such treatments
terapeutic agents and chemical warfare agents. can limit their commercial application. Activated carbon
The presence of arsenic in water causes toxic and [10], activated bauxite [10], activated alumina [10,11],
carcinogenic e€ects on human beings. It has been amorphous aluminum hydroxide [12], amorphous iron
reported that long-term uptake of arsenic contaminated (III) hydroxide [13], iron(III) hydroxide loaded coral
drinking water has produced gastrointestinal, skin, liver limestone [14] and hematite [15] can be mentioned
and nerve tissue injuries. The toxicity of arsenic ®rmly among the adsorbents studied for arsenic removal from
depends on its oxidation state and trivalent arsenic has aqueous solution.
Red mud is formed during the digestion in the Bayer
* Corresponding author. Fax: +90-424-212-2717. Process which is practised for alumina production from
E-mail address: saltundogan@®rat.edu.tr (H.S. AltundogÆan). bauxite. Mineralogically, red mud consists mainly of
0956-053X/00/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0956-053X(00)00031-3
762 H.S. AltundogÆan et al. / Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767

di€erent forms of iron and aluminum oxide minerals, solutions were used to prepare experimental solutions of
calcium and sodium aluminum silicates, various tita- speci®ed concentrations.
nium compounds, etc. Oxidic constituents are the One gram of red mud powder was placed in a conical
undissolved part of bauxite whereas silicates are formed ¯ask. Solutions containing 125 to 1500 mg arsenic and 5
from dissolved silica and alumina during desilication of ml of 0.1 M NaCl solution were made up to 50 ml using
aluminate liquors [16,17]. distilled water. Thus, solutions representing wastewaters
The purpose of the present study was to test red mud in the concentration range 2.5±30 mg lÿ1 were obtained.
waste from alumina production as an alternate arsenic The solution was added to the powder in a ¯ask. The
adsorbent. In this paper, the results of an investigation initial pH value of the solutions was adjusted with either
on the arsenic removing characteristics of red mud are HCl or NaOH solutions the concentration of which are
described. 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0 M. The ¯asks containing mixtures were
capped tightly and immersed into the temperature con-
trolled water bath and then shaken at the rate of
2. Experimental 80050 cycle/min with a mechanical shaker. At the end
of the contact period, the mixture was then centrifuged
Red mud used in the present study was obtained from for 10 min at 10 000 rpm and the ®nal pH of the super-
Etibank SeydisË ehir Aluminium Plant, Konya, Turkey. natants was measured. The solutions were analyzed spec-
Red mud slurry was taken from the outlet of washing trophotometrically, using silver diethyldithiocarbamate
thickeners. Wet sieve analysis showed that more than method [19] which is used to determine both arsenic
95% of the solid particles are less than 53 mm. species.
The suspension was wet sieved through a 200 mesh All chemicals used were of analytical reagent grade.
screen. A little amount remained on the sieve and was All labware used in the experiments was soaked in dilu-
discarded. Suspension having ÿ200 mesh particles was ted HCl solution for 12 h, washed and then rinsed four
allowed to settle and decanted, the liquid fraction was times with distilled water.
discarded. The solid fraction was washed ®ve times with The experiments were performed in duplicate and the
distilled water by following the sequence of mixing, set- mean values were considered. In order to ascertain the
tling and decanting. The last suspension was ®ltered and reproducibility of results, a group of experiments were
the residual solid was then dried at 105 C, ground in a repeated a number of times and the results were found
mortar and sieved through a 200 mesh sieve. The pro- to vary within 5%. The blank experiments showed no
duct was used in the study. detectable As(III) and As(V) adsorbed on the walls of
A sample was subjected to wet chemical analyses [18]. the ¯ask.
Mineralogical analyses was done by a Siemens D-5000
XRD equipment. The chemical and mineralogical com-
positions are given in Table 1. 3. Results and discussion
Stock solutions containing 1 g As(III) lÿ1 were pre-
pared by dissolving 1.320 g As2O3 (Merck 123) in 10 ml 3.1. E€ect of pH
of 5 M NaOH and making up to 1 l with distilled water.
Na2HAsO4.7H2O salt (Merck 6284) was dissolved in Preliminary studies carried out at the original pH of
water for 1 g lÿ1 As(V) stock solution. These stock mixtures (without acid or base addition) showed that the

Table 1
Chemical and mineralogical compositions of the red mud

Chemical composition Mineralogical composition

Constituent % (w/w) Minerals Formula % (w/w)

Al2O3 20.39 Sodalite Na2O.Al2O3.1.68 SiO2.1.73H2O 32.30

CaO 2.23 Cancrinite 3NaAlSiO4.NaOH 4.60
Fe2O3 36.94 Hematite Fe2O3 34.90
Na2O 10.10 Diaspore AlO(OH) 2.50
SiO2 15.74 Rutile TiO2 1.50
TiO2 4.98 Calcite CaCO3 1.20
P2O5 0.50
V2O5 0.05 Minor minerals: Bayerite: Al(OH)3; Boehmite: AlOOH; Quartz: a-SiO2;
CO2 2.04 Anatase: TiO2; Kaolinite: Al2Si2O5(OH)4
S 0.08
L.O.I. (900 C) 8.19
 H.S. AltundogÆan et al. / Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767 763

removal of As(III) attained equilibrium in 45 min

whereas equilibration time of As(V) was 90 min, for
133.5 mmol lÿ1 initial concentration, at 20 g lÿ1 adsorbent
dosage and 25 C temperature. At these conditions, max-
imum adsorption of As(III) and As(V) were about 48 and
26%, respectively. Since the initial pH values of solutions
were di€erent for As(III) and As(V) and the nature of red
mud is basic, the ®nal pH values were also found di€er-
ent and measured as 10.5 and 9.9, respectively.
The e€ect of pH on As(III) and As(V) adsorption by
red mud was studied in the initial pH range between 1
and 13 at the contact time of 60 min for As(III) and 120
min for As(V). Fig. 1 shows the e€ect of pH on
adsorption density (q, mmol gÿ1) which is a measure of the
degree of adsorption. As(III) is e€ectively adsorbed at
about pH 9.5. Adsorption decreases at both lower and
Fig. 1. E€ect of ®nal pH of mixtures on the adsorption of As(III) and
higher pH values. Variations in As(V) adsorption on red As(V) by red mud (initial concn.: 133.5 mmol lÿ1; contact time: 60 min
mud at the pH range 1.1±3.2 were found to be slight. for As(III) and 120 min for As(V); Red mud dosage: 20 g lÿ1; tem-
As(V) adsorption decreased sharply above pH 3.2. The perature: 25 C).
adsorbed amount of arsenic species are 4.31 mmol gÿ1 at
the pH of 9.5 for As(III) and 5.07 mmol gÿ1 at the pH of In the pH range 4.0±9.5, predominant species are
3.2 for As(V). These results clearly show that red mud H3AsO3 and H2AsOÿ 3 . As pH increases, the amount of
adsorbs As(III) better in basic medium while As(V) is negative arsenic species rises while the positively
favourably adsorbed in an acidic pH range. charged surface sites decrease up to the pHzpc. For
The removal of such anionic pollutants from aqueous example, at pH 7.5, the predominant arsenic species is
solutions by adsorption is highly dependent on pH of H3AsO3 corresponding to 98% of total amount. How-
the media which a€ects the surface charge of the solid ever, at pH 9.5, the amount of H3AsO3 is decreased to
particles and degree of ionization and speciation of 30% and the amount of other species (H2AsOÿ 3 and
adsorbate. Earlier investigators propose the mechanism only a little amount HAsO2ÿ 3 ) is increased. In this con-
below for surface behaviour of the solid±solution inter- nection, it can be stated that the arsenic can be adsorbed
face [20]: through an attraction of the neutral species to positively
charged surface sites at lower pHs. But the adsorption
mechanism at higher pHs may be expressed by binding
…1† the negative species to partially positive surface. The
decrease in the adsorption yield above pH 9.5 may be
attributed to an increase of negative surface sites and
where M stands for metallic component of the oxidic amount of negative arsenic species.
adsorbent. Hence, the hydroxylated surface of the In a study carried out at comparable conditions with
adsorbent develops charge in aqueous solution through present study, it has been reported that As(III) adsorp-
amphoteric dissociation. On the other hand, arseneous tion by hematite is maximum at pH 7.0 [15]. Although,
and arsenic acids constitute di€erent anionic species the red mud mainly consists of hematite (35%), it does
depending on pH. Dissociation constants have been not exhibit similar surface properties with hematite
calculated by using the GuÈntelberg approximation [21] since its surface is covered by sodium-aluminum silicate
for 0.01 M ionic strength as 9.14 (pK1) and 13.39 (pK2) compounds (sodalites) which are precipitated during
for arseneous acid (fraction of AsO3ÿ 3 species can be desilication of aluminate liquor in Bayer Process. Thus,
neglected) and as 2.21 (pK1), 6.63 (pK2) and 11.29 (pK3) di€erent favourable pH values can be attributed to the
for arsenic acid. To interpret the experimental data by complicated composition of red mud.
using amphoteric dissociation theory, the value of pHzpc
is needed where the surface charge is zero. Surface is 3.2. E€ect of contact time
positively charged below the pHzpc while it will have
negative charge above this pH. It can be determined by It was felt to be necessary to check the equilibration
potentiometric titration route for oxidic adsorbents. times for both arsenic types at the optimum pH values.
But, in the present work, the pHzpc value of red mud The e€ect of contact time on adsorption at optimum
could not be determined since some red mud compo- ®nal pH values of 9.5 for As(III) and 3.2 for As(V) is
nents (e.g. sodalites) were dissolved during the poten- shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen, the removal of As(III)
tiometric titration. and As(V) increase with time and attains equilibrium
764 H.S. AltundogÆan et al. / Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767

Fig. 3. Lagergren plots for As(III) and As(V) adsorption by red mud
Fig. 2. E€ect of contact time on the adsorption of As(III) and As(V)
(initial concn.: 133.5 mmol lÿ1; equilibration time: 45 min for As(III)
by red mud (initial concn.: 133.5 mmol lÿ1; pH: 9.5 for As(III) and 3.2
and 90 min for As(V); pH: 9.5 for As(III) and 3.2 for As(V); red mud
for As(V); red mud dosage: 20 g lÿ1; temperature: 25 C).
dosage: 20 g lÿ1; temperature: 25 C).

within 45 and 90 min, respectively. Data obtained in qe ˆ n ln b ‡ n ln Ce …6†

this study were ®tted in the following ®rst order rate
expression of Lagergren (Fig. 3): where Ce is equilibrium concentration (mmol lÿ1), qe is
amount adsorbed at equilibrium (mmol gÿ1), Q , b, n
log…qe ÿ q† ˆ log qe ÿ …Kad :t†= 2:303 …2† and D are isotherm constants. The values of Q , which
is adsorption maxima or adsorption capacity (mmol gÿ1)
where qe and q are the amounts of arsenic adsorbed at in Eqs. (3) and (5), can be compared with each other,
the equilibrium and at any time t and kad is adsorption whereas the de®nitions of b, n and D are di€erent for
rate constant. Linear plots of log(qeÿq) vs t indicate the the various models.
applicability of Eq. (2). All these isotherms were ®tted to the adsorption data
The kad values, calculated from the slopes of the lines obtained. Calculated correlation coecients for these
in Fig. 3, are 0.109 and 0.049 minÿ1 for As(III) and isotherms by using linear regression procedure for
As(V), respectively. As(III) and As(V) adsorption at di€erent temperature
are shown in Table 2. As seen, The Langmuir isotherm
3.3. Adsorption isotherms and thermodynamic yielded best ®ts to the experimental data. Langmuir
parameters plots for the adsorption of As(III) and As(V) on red
mud are shown in Fig. 4. The values of the Langmuir
The adsorptions of As(III) and As(V) were found to constants were calculated from slopes and intercepts of
be concentration dependent. It can be calculated from plots (Table 3).
isotherm data that the amount adsorbed increased from It has been reported that the adsorption of As(III) by
1.35 to 7.46 mmol gÿ1 for As(III) and from 1.54 to 6.41 hematite [15], As(III) and As(V) by activated carbon,
mmol gÿ1 for As(V) in the initial concentration range of activated bauxite, activated alumina [10] and amorphous
33.4±400.4 mmol lÿ1 at 25 C. The removal percentages iron hydroxide [9], As(V) by amorphous aluminum
calculated were 80.6±37.3 and 92.2±32.0 for As(III) and hydroxide [12] follows Langmuir isotherm. Langmuir
As(V), respectively. The experimental data obtained isotherm which leads the adsorption process indicates
under these conditions were applied to linearized forms that the reaction is a reversible phenomenon [10] and
of Langmuir, Freundlich, Frumkin and Temkin iso- the coverage is monolayer [10,15].
therms [Eqs. (3)±(6), respectively] which are suitable for The remarkable removal of arsenic could not be
evaluation of adsorption. achieved by red mud when compared with other separa-
tion techniques such as coprecipitation with aluminum
Ce =qe ˆ 1=…bQo † ‡ Ce =Qo …3† and iron salts and adsorption by preformed aluminum
and iron hydroxides. On the other hand, it can compete
ln qe ˆ ln b ‡ n ln Ce …4† against the adsorbents such as hematite, activated baux-
ite, activated alumina and iron(III) hydroxide loaded
coral lime stone (Fe-coral) which have limited e€ectivity.
qe ˆ …Qo =2D† ln‰b…Qo ÿ 1†Š ‡ …Qo =2D† ln…Ce =qe † …5† It has been reported that the maximum As(III) adsorp-
 H.S. AltundogÆan et al. / Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767 765

Table 2 where r is a dimensionless separation factor, C0 is initial

Comparision of adsorption isotherms for As(III) and As(V) adsorp- concentration (mmol lÿ1) and b is Langmuir constant
tion by red mud at various temperatures
(l mmolÿ1). The parameter r indicates the shape of the
Arsenic Temperature Correlation coecient for isotherm accordingly:
species ( C) di€erent isotherms, r2 (%)

Langmuir Freundlich Temkin Frumkin

r>1 Unfavorable
r=1 Linear
As(III) 25 99.43 95.86 97.06 91.94 0<r<1 Favorable
40 99.21 94.53 97.94 89.70
r=0 Irreversible
55 98.84 95.23 97.23 89.27
70 98.27 94.13 96.32 86.05
The r values for As(III) and As(V) adsorption can be
As(V) 25 99.49 89.14 93.17 84.92
40 99.89 86.18 94.79 85.34
calculated from Langmuir constants which are given in
55 99.55 87.24 94.81 84.12 Table 3. For example, at 25 C and an initial concentra-
70 99.84 84.96 94.80 81.90 tion of 133.5 mmol lÿ1, r values were calculated as 0.232
and 0.057 for As(III) and As(V), respectively. All cal-
culated r values indicate that adsorption of As(III) and
tion capacity of these adsorbents are 2.63, 16, 14 and As(V) on red mud are favorable at all concentrations
0.17 mmol gÿ1, respectively. For As(V) adsorption by and temperatures studied. Also, it can be stated that the
activated bauxite, activated alumina, activated carbon reversibility of As(V) adsorption is lower than that of
and the Fe-coral, the calculated corresponding values As(III). The lower reversibility of As(V) adsorption by
are 52, 67, 10 and 0.2 mmol gÿ1 [10,14,15]. In the present red mud suggests that the mechanism governing the
study, As(III) and As(V) adsorption capacities of red process may be chemical adsorption.
mud at 25 C, estimated from Langmuir isotherm, are Standard Gibbs free energy (
G ), standard enthalpy
8.86 and 6.86 mmol gÿ1, respectively. It is evident that (
H ) and standard entropy changes (
S ) for the
red mud is more e€ective than hematite and Fe-coral. adsorption process have been calculated from the Eqs.
However, Fe-coral has an advantage compared to other (8)±(10), respectively.
adsorbents because it is e€ective in a wide pH range. In
this connection, activated bauxite and activated alumina ln…1=b† ˆ
G =RT …8†
seem to be more advantageous adsorbents but the red
mud is an attractive material in view of being inexpen- ln b ˆ ln bo ÿ
H =RT …9†
sive and a very ®ne material.
To determine if the arsenic adsorption process by red
G ˆ
H ÿ T
S …10†
mud is favourable or unfavourable, for the Langmuir
type adsorption process, the isotherm shape can be where b is Langmuir constant which is related to the
classi®ed by a term ``r'', a dimensionless constant energy of adsorption, bo is a constant, R is an ideal gas
separation factor, which is de®ned as below [22±24]. constant (4.187 J molÿ1 Kÿ1) and T is temperature (K).
Calculated values of Langmuir parameters b and Q
r ˆ 1=…1 ‡ bC0 † …7† and the energy parameters
G ,
H and
S are given

Fig. 4. Langmiur plots for As(III) and As(V) adsorption by red mud (initial concn.: varied from 33.4 to 400.4 mmol lÿ1; contact time: 60 min for
As(III) and 120 min for As(V); pH: 9.5 for As(III) and 3.2 for As(V); red mud dosage: 20 g lÿ1).
766 H.S. AltundogÆan et al. / Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767

Table 3
Calculated Langmuir constants and thermodynamic parameters at various temperatures for As(III) and As(V) adsorption by red mud

Arsenic species Temperature ( C) Langmuir constants Thermodynamic parameters

b (l mmolÿ1) Qo (mmol gÿ1)
H (kj molÿ1) ÿ
G (kj molÿ1)
S (kj molÿ1 K ÿ1)

As(III) 25 0.025 8.86 ÿ12.83 25.11 0.0412

40 0.018 7.93 25.58 0.0407
55 0.016 7.17 26.41 0.0415
70 0.017 6.18 27.81 0.0438
As(V) 25 0.123 6.86 1.85 29.06 0.1037
40 0.128 7.73 30.62 0.1034
55 0.134 9.60 32.22 0.1038
70 0.135 10.80 33.71 0.1034

Fig. 5. E€ect of red mud dosage on the As(III) and As(V) adsorption (initial concn.: 133.5 mmol lÿ1; contact time: 60 min for As(III) and 120 min
for As(V); pH: 9.5 for As(III) and 3.2 for As(V); temperature: 25 C).

in Table 3. The estimated value of Q for As(III) stated that there is an acceptable ®t between the results
adsorption decreases with rise in temperature while it of isotherm and dosage studies.
increases for As(V) adsorption. The other Langmuir Final arsenic concentration can be reduced below the
parameter b exhibits similar trends. It can be stated that regulation limits by increasing the adsorbent dosage. In
As(III) adsorption is exothermic whereas the adsorption general, the red mud adsorbed As(V) e€ectively more
of As(V) is endothermic. These results can also be seen than the As(III). About a 100 g lÿ1 red mud dosage is
from calculated
H values (Table 3). Hence, it can be sucient for a ®nal arsenic concentration below the
concluded that the nature of As(III) adsorption is phy- regulation values of potable waters for As(V) while
sical and that of As(V) is chemical. The negative Gibbs' more is needed to adequately remove As(III).
free energy values indicate the adsorption of both
arsenic types are spontaneous. The decrease in free
energy change with the rise in temperature shows an 4. Conclusion
increase in feasibility of adsorption at higher tempera-
tures [25]. The positive values of entropy change suggest The solid fraction of red mud was tested to ®nd out its
some structural changes in adsorbate and adsorbent. As(III) and As(V) adsorption characteristics. Batch
experiments show that red mud is capable of removing
3.4. E€ect of adsorbent dosage arsenic from aqueous solutions.
As(III) and As(V) adsorptions are equilibrated within
Fig. 5 shows the e€ect of red mud dosage on the 45 and 90 min respectively, at 25 C, 133.5 mmol lÿ1 (10
removal of arsenic. The arsenic removal eciency is mg lÿ1) concentration and 20 g lÿ1 red mud dosage. For
increased with the amount of red mud. Final arsenic As(III) and As(V), favorable adsorptions take places at
concentrations and removal eciencies were also calcu- pH 9.5 and 3.2, respectively. It should be noted that the
lated from the isotherms in Fig. 4. In Fig. 5, results from adsorption densities at these conditions are 4.31 and
dosage study and values extracted from isotherms are 5.07 mmol gÿ1 for As(III) and As(V), respectively. Data
given with solid and dashed lines, respectively. It can be obtained from equilibration time study ®t Lagergren
 H.S. AltundogÆan et al. / Waste Management 20 (2000) 761±767 767

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