Rapid removal of low concentrations of mercury from wastewater using coal gasification slag

Coal gasification slag (CGS) is a carbon-containing solid waste used as an adsorbent to remove low concentrations of mercury from wastewater in a series of batch tests to assess its adsorption properties and safe storage. The results showed that the adsorption of mercury on CGS was a very rapid and efficient process, and adsorption equilibrium was reached in only 10–40 min. A pseudo-second-order kinetics model provided a better fit to the equilibrium data. The adsorption capacity on CGS was just slightly below the value of active carbon. CGS showed the highest mercury removal efficiency at a solution pH of 4. Although the presence of other metal cations and anions affected the adsorption, CGS showed good selectivity for mercury ions. The adsorption of mercury was not affected by low concentrations of Cr3+ or Cu2+. The negative interference of anions on the removal efficiency followed the order: Cl−>H2PO4−>CO32−. The adsorption mechanism related to the functional groups included ion exchange, precipitation, coordination complexation, and surface complexation. Mercury adsorbed on CGS leached very slowly in weakly acidic or basic solution. All results of the study indicate that CGS is an economical and safe adsorbent for potential industrial applications.