Superconducting magnetic separation of phosphate using freshly formed hydrous ferric oxide sols

Paramagnetic materials, such as ferric hydroxides, which are cost-effective and highly-efficient, have been little studied in relation to the magnetic separation process. In this study, freshly formed hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) sols were used to remove aqueous phosphate, followed by superconducting magnetic separation. The magnetization of HFO was determined to be 5.7 emu/g in 5.0 T. The particle size distributions ranged from 1 to 80 μm. Ferrihydrite was the primary mineral phase according to XRD analysis. Dissolved P (DP) was first adsorbed on HFO, and second, the P-containing HFO were separated by high gradient superconducting magnetic separation (HGSMS) to remove the Total P (TP). To obtain a P concentration of <0.05 mg/l in the effluent, 0.3, 1.0 and 1.3 g/l HFO were added to 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/l P solutions. The capacity of the HGSMS canister for capturing P-adsorbed HFO depends on the magnetic intensity and flow rate. In the 5.0 T HGSMS at a 1.0 cm/s flow rate, there were 75 column volumes in a single HGSMS cycle. The P concentration increased by 37.5 times after regeneration. Approximately 170 mg/l TP was measured in the backwash water.