Examination of flotation behavior of metal ions for process water remediation

Solutions containing low concentrations of heavy metal could be produced from any industrial processes and it is important to remove these ions from aqueous solution due to environmental regulations. In this paper, ion flotation method is employed to remove metal ions such as copper, lead, zinc, cadmium and nickel from aqueous solution. Firstly, several parameters such as pH, concentration and type of surfactants were investigated along with copper. After, ion flotation was tested on multiple ions individually and collectively, in different type of flotation machines. The best conditions were found as pH 9, with 1:1 ratio of sodium dodecyl sulfate and metal concentration, 20 mg/L each metal concentration, 3 min flotation time. After flotation the remaining solution contained 0.5 mg/L Cu, 2.5 mg/L Pb, 2.6 mg/L Ni, 3.4 mg/L Cd, 1.5 mg/L Zn. Ion flotation method can be used to clean process waters produced in flotation plants containing low metal concentrations. The overall method is suggested to remediate process waters generated flotation plants.