Effect of some heterocyclic derivatives on the removal of copper ions from wastewater by cementation

Removal of copper ions from copper sulphate solutions on a rotating zinc rod in absence and in presence of 3(2H)-furanones and 4H-pyran-4-one derivatives was investigated experimentally. Variables studied were initial copper ions concentration, rotational speed of the zinc rod, temperature and concentration of organic additives. It was found that cementation reaction is first order in presence and in absence of additives. Increasing concentration of initial copper ions, rotational speed of the zinc rod and temperature were found to increase the rate of cementation. In presence of organic additives an enhancement of the rate was observed, except in presence of methoxyfuranone the rate was found to decrease by an amount ranging from 11.74% to 33.79%. Rate acceleration or inhibition is associated mainly with changes in the structure of the additives as well as its concentration. The apparent activation energy for the cementation process in presence of different additives was estimated and was found to be ranged between 11.8 kJ/mol and 25.95 kJ/mol. These values suggest that the copper removal process in presence of these additives is controlled by diffusion. A scanning electron microscopy study of copper deposits obtained in presence of tolylfuranone, phenylpyrone and methoxyfuranone correlate with their behaviour during the kinetic study. Different reaction conditions and the physical properties of solutions were studied to obtain dimensionless correlation among all these parameters. It was found that on applying cementation reaction on a sample from industrial wastewater in presence of phenylpyrone about 91.9% of Cu2+ are removed.