Chemical treatment of chelated metal finishing wastes

This study evaluated two chemical approaches for treatment of commingled cadmium-cyanide (Cd-CN) and zinc-nickel (Zn-Ni) wastewaters. The first approach, which involved application of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), focused on elimination of chelating substances. The second approach evaluated the use of sodium dimethyldithiocarbamate (DMDTC) to specifically target and precipitate regulated heavy metals. Results demonstrated that by maintaining a pH of 10.0 and an oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) value of +600 mV, NaOCl treatment was effective in eliminating all chelating substances. Cadmium, chromium, nickel, and zinc solution concentrations were reduced from 0.27, 4.44, 0.06, and 0.10 ppm to 0.16, 0.17, 0.03, and 0.06 ppm, respectively. Similarly, a 1% DMDTC solution reduced these same metal concentrations in commingled wastewater to 0.009, 1.142, 0.036, and 0.320 ppm. Increasing the DMDTC concentration to 2% improved the removal of all regulated heavy metals except zinc, the removal of which at high pH values is limited by its amphotericity.