Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195

A study on removal characteristics of heavy metals

from aqueous solution by fly ash
Heechan Cho ∗ , Dalyoung Oh, Kwanho Kim
School of Civil, Urban & Geosystem Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1, Shinrim-Dong,
Kwanak-Ku, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea

Received 5 January 2005; received in revised form 25 March 2005; accepted 6 July 2005
Available online 24 August 2005

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of the utilization of coal fly ash as a low cost adsorbent. Batch experiments were
conducted to evaluate the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions by fly ash under various conditions of metal concentration, pH and
fly ash dosage. The heavy metals used in this study were zinc, lead, cadmium and copper. Adsorption studies were done at various pH values
(3–10) at 25 ◦ C and at heavy metal concentrations of 10–400 mg/L using fly ash concentrations of 10, 20 and 40 g/L, respectively. Experiments
were also conducted without fly ash to determine the extent of heavy metal removal by precipitation. Kinetic experiments were also performed
and the zeta-potentials of the fly ash particles were measured at various pH’s. The adsorption data was described by the Freundlich adsorption
model. The test results using real wastewater indicated that fly ash could be used as a cheap adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals in
aqueous solutions if not strongly acidic.
© 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fly ash; Adsorption; Heavy metals; Freundlich isotherm; Waste water

1. Introduction a research need to develop an alternative technology that can

further exploit fly ash. In the present study, efforts have been
Fly ash is particulate material produced from the combus- made to investigate the use of fly ash as a low-cost adsorbent
tion of coal in thermoelectric power plants. The amount of in the treatment of waste water bearing heavy metals (Zn, Pb,
fly ash generated in Korea was 4.43 million tonnes in 2000, Cd and Cu).
of which 54.62% (2.42 million tonnes) was recycled while Fly ash is strong alkali material, which exhibits pH of
the rest was land-filled [1]. It is well known that because 10–13 when added to water, and its surface is negatively
of its spherical shape and pozzolanic properties, fly ash is charged at high pH’s. Hence, it can be expected that metal ions
a valuable and desirable additive to cement concrete. It has can be removed from aqueous solutions by precipitation or
also been used effectively in many other areas such as ALC electrostatic adsorption. In fact, a number of studies were con-
manufacturing, building materials, soil amendment and fillers ducted to show the effectiveness of fly ash in the removal of
[2–4]. However, the rate of increase in demand in these appli- heavy metal ions [5–12] and organic materials [13–16] from
cations is far less than the rate of increase in production. aqueous solutions. However, the results appeared to not be
Therefore, there are growing concerns about fly ash disposal comprehensive since the test conditions were limited. Also,
problems. In particular, fly ash with high unburned carbon the effectiveness of fly ash has not been tested when various
content cannot be used as a cement additive because of the metal ions are present together.
adverse effects it has on the quality of concrete. Thus, there is In the present study, the adsorption of heavy metal ions
on fly ash particles was evaluated under various conditions
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 880 8271; fax: +82 2 871 8938. such as pH, heavy metal concentrations and fly ash dosages
E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Cho). through both kinetic and isotherm studies. The optimum

0304-3894/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2005.07.019
188 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195

removal condition was also identified for each metal ion. In of chloride salts were added to the bottles to make initial
addition, a series of tests were conducted to investigate how concentrations of 10–400 mg/L and the bottles were further
the presence of other metal ions affected the removal of one agitated for 2 or 3 h until equilibrium was obtained. At the end
metal ion. Finally, the effectiveness of fly ash in the removal of mixing, the fly ash particles were separated from suspen-
of heavy metals was evaluated using real wastewater. sions by filtration through a 0.45 ␮m membrane filter. The
residual concentration of heavy metals was determined by
an atomic absorption spectrometer. In addition to adsorption
2. Experimental tests, a set of blank tests with fly ash was conducted in order
to evaluate the removal by metal hydroxide precipitation at
2.1. Materials and equipment various pH’s.

The fly ash used in this study was obtained from a bitumi- 2.3. Kinetic studies
nous coal-burning power plant of Korea Electric Power Cor-
poration, Boryung, Korea. Scanning electron micrographs The kinetics of the adsorption of the heavy metal ions on
(model X-650, Hitachi, Japan) and Inductively Coupled fly ash were evaluated using a procedure similar to that used
Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometer, model SPECTRO.P in the adsorption experiments. A series of bottles contain-
(ICP-AES) were used to characterize the fly ash and its ing 20 g/L fly ash slurries and heavy metals of concentration
morphology. The surface area of the sample was measured 50 mg/L were kept in a thermostatic shaking water bath. After
by light diffractometry using the Mastersizer (model MSS, shaking for different time intervals, the samples were col-
Malvern Instruments, Worcestershire, UK). The zeta poten- lected and analyzed for residual concentrations as mentioned
tial of fly ash particles was determined by a zeta meter before.
(model Zetasizer 3000HS, Malvern Instruments, Worcester-
shire, UK). All heavy metal solutions were prepared in stock
solutions up to 400 mg/L of metal from the corresponding 3. Results and discussion
chloride salts purchased from Junsei Chemical, Japan. A pH
meter (model SP-701, SUNTEX, Taipei, Taiwan) was used to 3.1. Characterization of fly ash
measure the pH of the solutions. The concentrations of heavy
metal ions were measured by an atomic absorption spectrom- Fly ash is a heterogeneous material consisting largely of
eter (Perkin-Elmer model 3100, Norwalk, CT, USA). small spheres, formed by the condensation of aluminous and
siliceous glass droplets in the air. Also found in fly ash sam-
2.2. Adsorption experiments ples are irregular, porous, coke-like particles of unburned car-
bon material, which are often concentrated in the larger size
Batch adsorption experiments were carried out by shak- fractions. The SEM (Fig. 1) image clearly shows that finer
ing a series of bottles containing various amounts of fly ash fly ash particles (smaller than 200 mesh) are primarily spher-
and heavy metal ions at different pH’s. Fly ash particles were ical, whereas the coarser particles (larger than 200 mesh) are
dried at 110 ◦ C for 2 h before tests. A predetermined amount mainly composed of irregular and porous particles.
of the fly ash sample was mixed with 50 mL of distilled water Table 1 shows the distribution of the fly ash sample and
in polyethylene bottles to obtain fly ash slurries of 10, 20 and LOI by size. It can be seen that the sample is generally less
40 g/L. The pH of the slurry was adjusted to a desired value than 70 mesh, but the majority (72.75%) is in the size range
in the range of 3–10 with 1 M HNO3 and was agitated in of less than 400 mesh. It is common in fly ash that the carbon
a shaking bath at 25 ◦ C for 2 h until the pH was stabilized. tends to predominate in larger sizes. As indicated by the SEM
Then, the zinc, lead, cadmium and copper ions in the form image, this was also true for the fly ash sample used in this

Fig. 1. SEM pictures: (a) +200 mesh particles of the fly ash and (b) −200 mesh particles of the fly ash.
 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195 189

Table 1
Size fraction and LOI of the fly ash
Size (mesh) wt. (%) LOI (%)
<70 1.58 58.33
70–100 3.19 28.51
100–140 2.23 25.19
140–200 6.53 10.56
200–270 7.47 5.49
270–400 6.25 4.77
>400 72.75 2.99
Total 100 5.7

study. The carbon concentration determined by loss on igni-

tion (LOI) was less than 3% for the fly ash particles smaller
than 400 mesh and significantly increased up to 58.3% as the
particle size increased. Fig. 2. Zeta-potential of the fly ash at various pH’s.
All fly ash contain the same basic chemical elements but
in different proportions. The main constituents of fly ash are general, the amount of heavy metal removed increased as pH
silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium with smaller amounts increased, and sharply reached over 90% removal at a specific
of sulfur, magnesium, alkalies and tracers of many other ele- pH value.
ments. Table 2 shows the chemical composition of the fly ash As shown, the precipitation of the heavy metal ions except
samples used in this study. SiO2 and Al2 O3 contents make up copper was less than 20% at pH’s below 8, indicating that
about 80% of the fly ash. Fe2 O3 and CaO contents compose the removal of the metals except copper was mainly accom-
about 11%. According to the ASTM C618, this fly ash can be plished by adsorption. Since the fly ash has a low PZC (pH
classified as class F for having a less than 10% CaO content 2.8), the surface of the fly ash was negatively charged under
with a greater than 70% content of three components—SiO2 , the pH investigated. As pH increased from 4 to 8, it can be
Al2 O3 and Fe2 O3 . expected that the fly ash surface becomes more negatively
Fig. 2 shows the zeta-potentials of the fly ash particles in charged. Thus, more favorable electrostatic attraction forces
water measured at various pH’s. It can be seen that the fly ash enhanced cationic metal ion adsorption as pH increased.
particles are positively charged at low pH’s and negatively However, the dependence of heavy metal adsorption on
charged at high pH’s, having a point of zero charge (PZC) pH was different for each metal. The removal of zinc was
at a pH of 2.8. Therefore, it can be expected that positively about 70% at pH 6 and it increased to 95% at pH 8. For
charged metal ions are likely to adsorb onto the negatively lead, 90% was removed at pH 4.5 and it increased to 99% at
charged fly ash particles at a pH above 2.8. pH 6. For cadmium, removal increased proportionally with
increasing pH from 0% at pH 3–95% at pH 8. In all cases,
3.2. Effect of pH over 95% of all the four metals were removed at pH 8. It is
often suggested that the tendency of metal cations to adsorb
The pH of the solution has a significant impact on the
uptake of heavy metals, since it determines the surface charge
of the adsorbent, and the degree of ionization and speciation
of the adsorbate. Fig. 3 shows the percent removal of the four
heavy metals as a function of pH at a heavy metal concen-
tration of 100 mg/L and a fly ash concentration of 20 g/L. In

Table 2
Chemical composition of the fly ash
Constituent wt. (%)
SiO2 57.82
Al2 O3 22.10
Fe2 O3 8.33
CaO 2.57
MgO 0.91
SO3 0.73
TiO2 0.64
K2 O 0.45
Others 6.47 Fig. 3. Effect of pH on the percent removal of zinc, lead, cadmium and
copper: initial metal concentration of 100 mg/L and fly ash dosage of 20 g/L.
190 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195

to oxide surfaces is highly correlated with their tendency to

undergo hydrolysis reactions in solution [5]. Metal cations
in aqueous solutions hydrolyze according to the generalized
expression for divalent metals.
M2+ (aq.) + nH2 O = M(OH)2−n + nH+
The distribution of various hydroxo complexes depends on
pH of the solution and the respective stability constants. The
stability constants (* K1 ) for the first hydrolysis reaction are
10.08 for Cd, 8 for Cu, 7.71 for Pb, and 8.96 for Zn [17]. The
order of the pH for abrupt increase in heavy metal uptake by
fly ash follows the same order of the p* K1 . Hydroxyl–metal
complexes are known to adsorb with a higher affinity than
the completely hydrated metals because the formation of an
OH group on the metal reduced the free energy requirement
for adsorption [18]. Therefore, it seems that the adsorption
Fig. 5. Effect of pH on the lead removal at various metal concentrations fly
of metal ions can be related to the change in availability of ash dosages.
MOH+ , since the first hydrolysis product starts to appear at
a lower pH with decreasing p* K1 , as shown in the speciation
diagrams given by Panday et al. [5] for Cu, Weng and Huang
[8] for Zn, and Ellott and Denney [17] for Cd. Similar results
were reported in several studies on adsorption of heavy metals
on oxide particles [12,19,20].

3.3. Effect of heavy metal concentration and fly ash

dosage

The adsorption experiments were carried out in the heavy

metal concentration range of 10–400 mg/L, and two different
dosages of fly ash at various pH’s. The results are presented
in Figs. 4–7. Generally, the curves shifted toward higher pH’s
with increasing heavy metal concentration or decreasing fly
ash dosage. Particularly for zinc, the pH–adsorption curves
were approximately parallel. At the medium pH value (pH
6), percent removal ranged from 19 to 76, and 38 to 87 with
Fig. 6. Effect of pH on the cadmium removal at various metal concentrations
the 10 and 20 g/L fly ash dosage, respectively, for the 50, 100, fly ash dosages.
200 and 400 mg/L zinc concentrations.

Fig. 4. Effect of pH on the zinc removal at various metal concentrations fly Fig. 7. Effect of pH on the copper removal at various metal concentrations
ash dosages. fly ash dosages.
 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195 191

The removal of lead was more effective than that of zinc.

Even at the highest lead concentration (400 mg/L), almost all
of the lead was removed at pH 6 or greater. The reason for this
tendency was that the precipitation of lead was higher than
that of zinc when they were under the same conditions. At lead
concentrations lower than 400 g/L, the pH–adsorption curves
were similar. On the other hand, the removal of cadmium was
the lowest. At acidic conditions, removal was under 50% even
for the lowest cadmium concentration. At pH values above
6, the removal of cadmium increased up to 90–99% at the
initial concentration below 100 mg/L.
Compared to other metal ions, copper was well removed
even at a low pH likely due to precipitation (Fig. 3). At pH 3,
the copper removal owing to precipitation was over 90% of
the total removal. But as the pH was increased, its contribu-
tion decreased and a considerable amount of copper ions was
Fig. 8. Kinetics of heavy metal adsorption onto fly ash at pH 6: initial metal
removed by adsorption as well. At pH 6, the copper removal concentrations of 50 mg/L and fly ash dosage of 20 g/L.
was almost 100% with the use of 20 g/L fly ash at a con-
centration of 50 mg/L. Consequently, of the four heavy metal But when with lead, the removal of cadmium increased
ions, the total removal of lead was the highest and decreased greatly. Considering that the cadmium removal rate is lowest,
in sequence of copper, zinc and cadmium. we can expect that a much higher removal rate of cadmium
can be achieved by mixing cadmium wastewater and lead
3.4. Multi-ion adsorption studies wastewater.
Like lead, the removal of copper was enhanced when all
Industrial wastewater can contain several heavy metal four metals were present at the lower concentration. However,
ions, which may mutually enhance adsorption, may act rela- the removal decreased when the concentration of other metal
tively independent or may interfere with one another. There- ions was high, especially of zinc and lead. When all four
fore, tests were conducted to investigate the effect of other metals were present together, the removal of lead and copper
ions on the adsorption of each metal. The results at initial was enhanced, while the removal of zinc and cadmium was
concentrations of 50 and 200 mg/L at pH 6 are shown in reduced. From this, it can be concluded that adsorption of
Table 3. It can be seen that the presence of one metal affected heavy metals is favorable in the order Pb > Cu > Cd > Zn.
the removal of the other metal ions. The removal of zinc was
reduced in the presence of lead and copper, but was enhanced 3.5. Kinetics
when with cadmium. On the other hand, the removal of lead
increased from 90% to 99.9% when in the presence of all the Fig. 8 shows the adsorption characteristics as a function of
other heavy metal ions. time. The kinetic experiments were performed by agitating
The effect of other metals on the removal of cadmium var- the fly ash slurry bottles in a shaking bath for 4 h at 25 ◦ C.
ied; when the concentration was low, the removal increased, In these tests, 10 g of fly ash in 1 L of aqueous solution con-
and when the concentration was high, the removal decreased. taining 50 mg/L of metals were used. The pH was 6.0 where

Table 3
Effect of interfering ions on the uptake of heavy metals
Interfering ions Concentration (mg/L) Percent increase or reduction in the uptake of

Zn Pb Cd Cu
Zn 50 +11 +29 +20
200 +11 −47 −17
Pb 50 −100 +87 +24
200 −100 +36 −26
Cd 50 +22 +12 +25
200 −23 +15 0
C 50 −74 +12 +53
200 −97 +15 −64
With other three heavy metal 50 −3 +12 +13 +25
200 −100 +15 −100 0
(+), Increase; (−), reduction.
192 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195

Fig. 9. Lagergren plots for the heavy metals at pH 6: initial metal concen- Fig. 10. Freundlich isotherm plot for zinc, lead and cadmium and copper at
trations of 50 mg/L and fly ash concentration of 20 g/L. pH 4.5.

precipitations were relatively low. The metal concentrations

where Ce (mg/L) is the concentration of metal ions in solution
were determined at varying time intervals. As shown, the rate
at equilibrium, and KF (mg/g) and n are constants related to
of uptake of metal ions by the fly ash was quite rapid. The
adsorption capacity and adsorption intensity.
metal removal in the first 20 min was 87% and 80% of the
Figs. 10–12 show the Freundlich isotherm plots for the
maximum removal in the case of zinc and copper, respec-
four metal ions at various pH’s. All four heavy metals tended
tively, while it was 63% and 50% for lead and cadmium,
to form a precipitate to some extent even at acidic conditions
respectively. Equilibriums were reached within 2 h for zinc
and therefore adsorption by fly ash was difficult to quan-
and 3 h for lead, cadmium and copper. At equilibrium, 82%
tify especially at higher pH values. Furthermore, the copper
of the zinc, 88.8% of the lead and 81% of the copper were
exhibited an unusually high precipitation even at acidic con-
removed from the solution. However, only 15.2% of the cad-
ditions. Consequently, only the data of the adsorption tests
mium was removed at equilibrium, indicating that more fly
conducted at a pH up to 8 was analyzed to determine the
ash was needed to remove cadmium ions.
isotherm constants, and the isotherm curves of the copper
The rate constants for adsorption of metal ions on fly ash
were included for a comparison purpose. At pH 4.5, the
were determined using the Lagergren equation [8]:
isotherm was linear over the entire range of concentrations
Kad studied (Fig. 10). However, at higher pH’s, the isotherm
log(qe − q) = log qe − t (1)
2.303 exhibited two distinct linear regions (Figs. 11 and 12). Simi-
where qe is the amount of metal ions adsorbed at equilibrium, lar results were reported by Benjamin and Leckie [19], who
q the amount of metal ions adsorbed (both in mg/L) at time t studied adsorption of Cu and Zn onto amorphous iron oxyhy-
(min) and Kad is the rate constant (min−1 ). Fig. 9 shows that
the data is well described by the Lagergren equation. Kad val-
ues obtained by regression were 0.0389 for zinc, 0.0239 for
lead, 0.0465 for cadmium and 0.0140 for copper, indicating
that the adsorption of cadmium was the most rapid, although
the ultimate removal was the lowest.

3.6. Adsorption isotherm

In order to successfully represent the dynamic adsorptive

behavior, it is important to have a satisfactory description
of the equation state between the two phases composing the
adsorption system. Various kinds of adsorption isotherms,
especially Langmuir and Freundlich were tested to fit the
experimental data. The best fit was achieved using a Fre-
undlich isotherm. The Freundlich isotherm model is given
by the equation:
Fig. 11. Freundlich isotherm plot for zinc, lead and cadmium and copper at
qe = KF Ce1/n (2) pH 6.
 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195 193

Table 5
The distribution coefficient of the metals
pH Zn Pb Cd Cu
6 0.24 15.84 0.02 3.98
8 1.12 19.95 0.35 3.55

increase with increasing pH, but the trend was not clear due
to too few data points. The slopes of the zinc and cadmium
isotherm curve in the first linear region were very similar and
were very close to those at pH 4.5. In the second linear part,
the slope of the isotherms for the four metals was very low
ranging from 0.15 to 0.3. Therefore, in this region, the heavy
metal removal per weight of fly ash was nearly equal at all
equilibrium concentrations along the isotherm curve. This
may indicate a condition of increased occupation of active
Fig. 12. Freundlich isotherm plot for zinc, lead and cadmium and copper at surface sites with metal loading.
pH 8. Interestingly, the qe values of the critical point at which
the adsorption intensity changed were similar regardless of
droxide. An explanation for the results given by them was that the pH values for each heavy metal. It was 3.2 mg/g for Zn,
the surface consisted of different sites with varying affinities 10.0 mg/g for Pb, 5.0 mg/g for Cd and 2.8 mg/g for Cu. When
for adsorbate ions. When the adsorption density was low, the converted to a mole basis, these values were all about the
metal ions bound preferentially to sites where the binding same, ranging from 4.8 × 10−5 to 4.4 × 10−5 mol/g. How-
strength was maximal and the adsorption intensity was high. ever, it does not mean that the four metals show the same
As the surface coverage increased, adsorption to the highest affinity for fly ash. Table 5 shows the solid/water distribu-
energy sites became limited and only sites of lower interac- tion ratios, Kd = qe /Ce , determined at the critical point for pH
tion energy were available for adsorbing ions, leading to a 6 and 8. At both pH’s, the order of the distribution coeffi-
decrease in the adsorption intensity. cient increased Cd < Zn < Cu < Pb. Therefore, it can be said
As mentioned previously, the removal of the heavy metal that the relative tendency for different metals to bind to them
ions was low at pH 4.5, but it increased considerably as the pH increased in the same order. Also, the distribution coefficient
increased. Therefore, it can be assumed that the adsorption of increased as the pH increased. As shown in Fig. 3, the ten-
the heavy metal ions onto the fly ash particles was not intense dency for the precipitation of the four metals followed in
at pH 4.5, and hence, a considerable amount of active sites the same order, which again indicates the close relationship
of the fly ash surfaces was available even at the high metal between heavy metal hydrolysis and adsorption characteris-
concentrations in the solution phase. However, at higher pH’s, tics of metals on fly ash.
the adsorption was intense resulting in the depletion of high-
energy sites as the heavy metal concentration increased. 3.7. Treatment of metal industrial wastewater
Table 4 shows the values of 1/n and Kf of the two linear
regions for various pH values. At pH 4.5, the slope of the Based on the promising results of heavy metal removal
lead isotherm (0.6) was less than those of other three metals, from aqueous solutions, tests were conducted to evaluate
which ranged from 0.7 to 0.74. At higher pH’s (pH 6 and these results using real wastewater. The wastewater used was
8), the slope of the first linear region was significantly higher taken from a local metal plating factory. It had a pH of 3.25
than that of the second linear region for the four metals. In the and contained Cd of 12.18 mg/L, Pb of 1.82 mg/L, Zn of
first linear region, the slope of the lead isotherm was about 11.70 m/L and Cu of 1.89 mg/L. Tests were conducted over
1.1 at pH 6 and 8. The slope of the copper isotherm seems to a range of pH values (4–8) with varying fly ash concentra-

Table 4
Freundlich constants
pH Zn Pb Cd Cu

1/n Kf 1/n Kf 1/n Kf 1/n Kf

First region 4.5 0.70 0.07 0.70 1.66 0.74 0.05 0.72 0.28
6.0 0.76 0.45 1.07 10.43 0.71 0.12 0.95 5.45
8.0 0.74 2.75 1.12 47.67 0.75 1.06 1.95 173.06
Second region 6.0 0.19 1.85 0.15 9.67 0.28 1.40 0.30 2.58
8.0 0.28 19.08 0.30 15.08 0.29 1.27 0.26 3.68
194 H. Cho et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials B127 (2005) 187–195

tions. The samples were shaken at 25 ◦ C for 24 h. At the end other ions increased to 200 mg/L. The removal of zinc gen-
of the period, the solutions were separated by filtration and erally decreased when in the presence of other ions. Finally,
the residual metal concentration in the supernatant was deter- the removal of cadmium was enhanced especially by the pres-
mined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. ence of lead ions. Therefore, it would be beneficial for the
As observed in the tests with artificial solutions of heavy wastewater containing lead to be mixed with the water con-
metals, the heavy metal removal increased with increasing taining cadmium for the synergetic removal of both lead and
fly ash concentrations, as well as increasing pH. It was noted cadmium.
that Cd removal increased from 45% to 70%, and 95% as the The results of the tests using real wastewater showed that
pH was increased from 4 to 6 and 8, respectively, at a fly ash fly ash was effective in the simultaneous removal of various
dosage of 10 g/L. When the fly ash dosage was increased to heavy metals in metal industrial wastewater. It was found
20 g/L, Cd removal increased to 70%, 85% and 98% at pH that the percentage removal of heavy metals was dependent
4, 6 and 8, respectively. Removal of zinc was much higher on the pH of the solution. However, at neutral pH conditions
than that of cadmium under the same conditions, ranging (pH 6–8), the removal was high even when small amounts of
from 55% to 100% at a fly ash dosage of 10 g/L, and from fly ash were used.
84% to 100% at a fly ash dosage of 20 g/L. Also, fly ash was
effective in removing Cu and Pb. Even at a low pH of 4, the
percentage removal for both metals was over 90% at a 10 g/L
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