The Removal of Metals from Aqueous Solutions using Green Products

By: Majesti Bass

Introduction

Water is essential for all life on earth; unfortunately water is also becoming more contaminated.

The most common metals found in drinking water are lead and copper, exposure to these metals can cause major health effects.

This ongoing problem can be solved by performing an experiment that tests the different removal methods on lead and copper. The results from this experiment will help the water systems for developing countries that might not have the money to pay for expensive removal methods.

Background

Lead is the most consumed metal in the United States, consuming over 3.6 billion pounds. (Draggan, 2008)

Lead is used in the production of batteries, glass, ammunition, metal, and can act as a heat stabilizer in plastics and resins.

If lead is ingested or presented to the skin it could cause serious problems. These problems include malfunction of the blood, kidneys, reproductive system, peripheral system, and central nervous system.

The action part for lead is fifteen parts per million, which means this is the maximum amount tolerated in water. (EPA, 2012)

Copper is introduced to water systems through the corrosion of plumbing systems.

It can also come from natural deposits of copper which are found in the lining of pipes underground. The highest amount of copper allowed in water is 1.3ppm (Copper Info, EPA).

Some health hazards associated with the ingestion of copper is gastrointestinal distress, and kidney damage.

Hypotheses

The research hypothesis for this experiment states that if citrus fruit peel is used to remove the metals lead and copper then most of the metals will be removed.

The null hypothesis states that there will not be a significant difference between the amount of copper or lead removed by using citrus peel.

The predicted outcome of this experiment is that at least 50 percent of the initial lead and copper present in the water will be removed after five treatments of citrus peel.

Procedure

1. The citrus fruit being used in this project will be orange peel; these will be rinsed off to remove any dirt on the peel. Then the peel will dried in an oven. Finally the peel will be crushed using a mortar and pestle.

2. Obtain saw dust

3. Collect leaves and use the mortar and pestle to crush.

4. 100mL of tap water will be obtained for each amount of lead and copper for the remaining number of trials.

5. Add 10 grams of lead and copper nitrate to 10 individual beakers of water

6. Next the amount of each metal will be measured by using probes and household water quality test kits

7. Record the initial amount of each metal

8. Apply the citrus fruit peel to the 100ml of tap water

9. Let the citrus peel sit for 30 minutes

10. Repeat step 7-8 for other absorbents: lemon peel, lime peel, saw dust, and leaves

11. Record the amount of metal left in water using the appropriate material 

Flow Chart

Materials

Lead Nitrate

Copper Nitrate

Premium Lead Test Kit

Complete Home Water Quality Test Kit

Lemon

Lime

Orange

Oak Leaves

Sawdust

Knife

Mortar and pestle

Sawdust

Knife

Sieve

PicturesFigure 1: This figure depicts lime that has just been peeled, along with the mortar and pestle with crushed orange peel. Other materials such as beakers can also be seen in this figure.

PicturesFigure 2: This figure depicts beakers with sawdust, along with a lead water quality test strip.

PicturesFigure 3: This figure depicts the researcher pouring the needed amount of metal to the 100mL beakers of water.

 

PictureFigure 4: This figure depicts the settled lemon peel to the bottom of the beaker

PicturesFigure 5: This figure depicts lime peel being used as an absorbent.

EDD

IV: Absorbents and Metals

Lead

Citrus Fruit peel : orange ,lemon, lime

sawdust, oak tree leaves

Copper

Citrus Fruit peel: orange, lemon, lime

sawdust, oak tree leaves

Control

Lead, Copper

# of Trials

10 10 10

Title: The removal of metals from aqueous solution using green products

DV: Amount of metal removed each timeConstants: Amount of time allotted for absorbent to work, number of trials, tools used to measure removal

Amount of Change

Orange Lemon Lime Sawdust0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.1

0.430.47

0.67

Amount of Lead Removed (mL)

Amount of Lead Removed (mL)

Organic Material

Am

ount

of

Copper

in M

illilite

rs

Figure 1: This graph shows the average amount of lead removed by using each absorbent organic material, over the three trials. The amount of lead removed is measured in milliliters. This shows that sawdust, removed the most amount of lead.

Amount of Change

Figure 2: This graph shows the average amount of copper removed after using the three absorbents. The amount of copper removed is measured in milliliters. Sawdust removed the most copper.

Orange Lemon Lime Sawdust0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

0.83

0.17

0.6

0.87

Avg. Amount of Copper Removed (mL)

Amount of Copper Removed (mL)

Organic Material

Am

ount

of

Copper

in M

illilite

rs

Conclusion

Data was not significant, because my p-value of 0.527 is greater than 0.5.

Therefore I reject my research hypothesis and accept my null hypothesis.

The insignificance of data could be due to the inaccessibility to proper measurement tools.

Malfunction with analysis equipment

Future Research

Use this technique and teach it to ambassadors of developing countries , to purify their water in hopes of giving their citizens better health.

Acknowledgements

Mr. Scott Bolen for greatly assisting me in coming up with a new research topic.

Mr. Hendrix for his supervision throughout my experiment.

Rockdale Magnet Fund for providing the necessary funds needed to purchase materials for my project.

My parents for purchasing all the adsorbents that I used in this experiment.

All About Me

Personal Achievements

Member of RMSST Student Ambassador Program

Position- Vice President

Recently proctored testing for 8th grade applicants

Made A\B Honor Roll for 1st semester

Volleyball

Made the Prep Volleyball list for the Top 50 Juniors list for the class of 2015

#1 Hitter in the State for RCHS

Awarded offensive player of the year

One of the Top 10 Players in the Country

Made the All State Team

USA Volleyball

Made the Red Youth Continental National Team

Won Gold in High Performance Tournament

Held in Ft. Lauderdale

Met many players from all over the world (Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, etc.)

Club Volleyball

Player for A5 South Volleyball Club

1st player of club to commit to a Division 1 School

Team: 17-1 Joe

Committed to UGA