Copper Acid Wastewater Treatment Method

1.  Current situation of copper acid wastewater

With the rapid development of China's economy, the requirements for environmental protection are becoming increasingly standardized. The problem of acid washing wastewater treatment in traditional copper processing enterprises has become a focus of environmental attention. The treatment of heavy metal containing waste acid water by general copper processing enterprises can usually be divided into two categories; One is to convert dissolved heavy metals in waste acid water into insoluble metal compounds or elements, which are removed from the waste acid water through precipitation and flotation, such as neutralization precipitation method, sulfide precipitation method, flotation separation method, electrolytic precipitation (or flotation) method, membrane electrolysis method, etc; The second method is to concentrate and separate heavy metals in waste acid water without changing their chemical form. Applicable methods include reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, evaporation, and adsorption.

These methods should be used separately or in combination depending on the quality and quantity of the waste acid water. The treatment of waste acid generally uses lime or strong alkali for comprehensive treatment. Due to the high concentration and large quantity of waste acid water, the treatment cost is also high, and there is a lot of sediment after treatment. The waste acid water generated by acid washing in copper processing enterprises, according to theoretical calculations, will produce 478kg of waste residue (dry) per ton of waste acid water. The amount of waste residue generated is too large, and the copper ion content in the residue exceeds the standard seriously, with pH value not meeting the standard. As a hazardous waste, the processing capacity is large, and the processing cost is particularly high. The neutralization and sedimentation method generally cannot meet the national emission standards, which will seriously pollute the local water quality and soil, seriously damage the local ecological environment, and also constitute a serious illegal act. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out more economical and in-depth treatment of copper acid water.

2.  Haipu customized processing technology

The adsorption process developed by Jiangsu Haipu Functional Materials Co., Ltd. provides an effective solution for copper removal from copper acid water by controlling the copper ion concentration in the effluent at the end.

Jiangsu Haipu Functional Materials Co., Ltd. is committed to the research and industrialization of high-performance adsorbents and catalysts. In 2018, it was approved as the Suzhou Adsorption and Catalytic Functional Nanomaterials Engineering Technology Research Center. Through years of independent research and development, it has achieved international leading levels in ion exchange technology and adsorption technology, nano inorganic material hybridization technology, etc., realizing the serialization of adsorption and catalytic products and successfully applying them in the fields of environmental protection and resource recycling. With a series of independently developed high-performance adsorbents and catalysts as the core, combined with self-developed process technology, Haipu has become a professional supplier of green and environmental protection solutions.

When using Haipu's adsorption process to treat copper acid water, the wastewater is pre filtered to remove suspended and particulate matter, and then enters the adsorption tower for adsorption. The special adsorption material filled in the adsorption tower can adsorb copper in the wastewater on the surface of the material, greatly reducing the copper ions in the effluent. After adsorption saturation, specific desorption agents are used to desorb the adsorbent material, allowing it to regenerate, and this process is continuously repeated. The process flow of copper acid water adsorption treatment is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1 Copper acid water treatment process

3. Case Introduction

The newly built copper acid water adsorption treatment facility has a total designed wastewater treatment capacity of 100m 3/d. The high copper ion content in the copper acid water cannot meet the production requirements and affects the stable production of the enterprise. Haipu has customized the process design for the wastewater, and the wastewater design indicators are shown in the table below.

Table 1 Wastewater Design Parameters Table

Figure 2 Shows the raw water, effluent, desorption solution, and washing solution from left to right in sequence

The adsorption process customized by Haipu can deeply adsorb and remove copper from wastewater. The removal rate of copper ions is stable at over 90%, and the copper content in the adsorbed water is much lower than the customer's requirement (<500mg/L). As can be seen from the figure, most of the copper ions in the wastewater are adsorbed and removed, and the copper ions are transferred to the desorption solution, which facilitates the subsequent recovery of by-products, meets the customer's discharge requirements, and does not produce secondary pollution, ensuring the normal operation of the enterprise.

4. Advantages of adsorption method

• Deeply remove copper ions from wastewater, with high copper ion removal rate and the ability to produce by-products;

• Using specially modified adsorption materials, with large adsorption capacity, low equipment investment, and low operating costs;

• The process flow is simple and can achieve full automation operation, making operation and maintenance convenient.

• It can be arranged in multiple layers, with a small footprint and a short installation cycle.