Treatment of Wastewater Containing a Mixture of Heavy Metal Ions (Copper-Zinc, Copper-Nickel) using Ion-Exchange Methods

The main aim of the scientific research was to study the ion-exchange processes in the treatment of industrial wastewaters containing a high concentration of heavy metal ions (Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺). The sorption results of heavy metal mixtures (Cu-Zn, Cu-Ni) from model solutions of sulfate salts on a strong-acid KU-2–8 cation exchanger in the H⁺-form were presented. The metals concentration was 10–50 meq/dm³. The efficiency conditions of cation regeneration in Cu²⁺-Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺-Ni²⁺-forms by 5, 8 and 10 % sulfuric acid solutions were studied. It was shown that the heavy metals from aqueous media can be removed not only from ion exchangers, but can also be restored from regenerative solutions by electrolysis to obtain metals in pure form. In general, the research results showed that the use of ion exchange is very effective in removing the heavy metal ions. The sorption efficiency and regeneration efficiency was about 100%.