A new approach for the agglomeration and subsequent removal of polyethylene, polypropylene, and mixtures of both from
Adrian Frank Herbort1, Michael Toni Sturm1, Katrin Schuhen2
1Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz - Landau, Fortstr. 7, 76829, Landau in der Pfalz, Germany.
Abstract:
Based on a new concept for the sustainable removal of microplastics from freshwater systems, a case study for a pH-induced agglomeration and subsequent removal of polyethylene and polypropylene particles from water is presented. The two-step-based process includes firstly a localization and secondly an aggregation of microplastic particles (250-350 μM) in a physicochemical process. The research describes a strong increase in the particle size independent of pH of the aquatic milieu induced by the addition of trichlorosilane-substituted Si derivatives. The resulting Si-based microplastic aggregates (particle size after aggregation is 2-3 cm) could be easily removed by use of, e.g., sand traps. Due to the effect that microplastic particles form agglomeration products under every kind of process conditions (e.g., various pH, various polymer concentrations), the study shows a high potential for the sustainable removal of particles from wastewater.
More Related Videos
08:49Vegetated Treatment Systems for Removing Contaminants Associated with Surface Water Toxicity in Agriculture and Urban Runoff
Published on: May 15, 2017
20:24Characterization of Complex Systems Using the Design of Experiments Approach: Transient Protein Expression in Tobacco as a Case Study
Published on: January 31, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Mixtures of Acids
A Mixture of a Strong Acid and a Weak Acid
In a mixture of a strong acid and a weak acid, the strong acid dissociates completely and becomes a source of almost all the hydronium ions...
Mixtures of Acids
In a strong and weak acid mixture, the strong acid dissociates completely and becomes a source of almost all the hydronium ions present in the solution. In contrast, the weak acid shows...
Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Second Order systems II
First Order Systems
When a first-order system is subjected to a unit-step input, its response is characterized by its transfer function. By applying the Laplace transform of the unit-step input to the transfer function, expanding the...
