An investigation of Cr(VI) removal with metallic iron in the co-presence of sand and/or MnO2.

This study focused on the influence of sand and/or MnO2 co-presence on the mechanism and kinetics of Cr(VI) removal with Fe(0). The process was investigated under acidic and well-mixed conditions, over the temperature range of 6-32 °C. It was shown that both mechanism and kinetics of the removal process were highly dependent on composition and dose of reactive mixture added to Cr(VI) solution. At 22 °C, indirect chemical reduction with Fe(II) was the main removal path in H2O-Fe(0)-Cr(VI) and H2O-Fe(0)-Sand-Cr(VI) system, while in H2O-Fe(0)-MnO2-Cr(VI) and H2O-Fe(0)-MnO2-Sand-Cr(VI) system removal of Cr(VI) occurred mainly via adsorption on MnO2. The pseudo zero-order kinetic model provided the best match for H2O-Fe(0)-Cr(VI) and H2O-Fe(0)-Sand-Cr(VI) system, while in H2O-Fe(0)-MnO2-Cr(VI) and H2O-Fe(0)-MnO2-Sand-Cr(VI) system the process fitted well to the pseudo second-order model. Temperature influenced the efficiency and kinetics of the process in all investigated systems, and the removal mechanism only in H2O-Fe(0)-MnO2-Cr(VI) and H2O-Fe(0)-MnO2-Sand-Cr(VI) system.