Mass Transfer Characteristics of Binary Heavy Metal Ions Mixture in Gas Sparged Dialysis Cells

Abstract

The effect of air sparging on mass transfer of a mixture of two heavy metals ions (Cu and Ni) was studied in dialysis cells by measuring the conductivity of dialysate solution. The variables studied were the air velocity and heavy metal ion concentrations ranging between 300 mg L⁻¹ and 1000 mg L⁻¹. A mass transfer equation was derived to represent an overall mass transfer coefficient for ion mixture. The presence of gas enhanced the rate of mass transfer by increasing the overall mass transfer coefficient. Also, an equation was developed for the transfer of ionic mixture that agreed with the previous studies on mass and heat transfer in the bubble stirred systems. The increase in mass transfer coefficient ranged from 83.4-196% for the mixture of two heavy metal ions above the natural convection value depending on the experimental conditions. Overall, a new model was developed for mass transfer in Binary solution for industrial purposes. The novelty of this process is that it was applied for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters as compared to other different types of salt solutions.

• air sparging
• Cu
• Ni
• regenerated cellulose acetate membrane
• mass transfer
• coefficients