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Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Heavy metal removal from aqueous solution by wasted biomass from a combined AS-biofilm process
W C Chang1, G S Hsu, S M Chiang
1Department of Environmental & Safety Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Touliu, Taiwan. changwc@yuntech.edu.tw
Abstract:
This study evaluated the capability of metal biosorption by wasted biomass from a combined anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2O)-biofilm process with simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Zinc, cadmium and nickel were rapidly adsorbed in 20 min by the harvested sludge from a continuous-flow pilot-plant. Biosorption equilibrium was then reached in 6h. The biosorption isotherm showed that metal biosorption behavior had fitted well to the Freundlich isotherm, but not Langmuir isotherm. The capacity constants k of Freundlich model for nickel, zinc and cadmium were 0.471, 0.298 and 0.726, respectively; the affinity constants 1/n were 0.444, 0.722 and 0.718, respectively. The order of metal affinity for the wasted biomass was Zn > Cd > Ni, which was in conformity to the other biosorption results with different biological sludge.
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