An overview of zeolites synthesised from coal fly ash and their potential for extracting heavy metals from industrial wastewater

ABSTRACT

Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals widely used in industrial applications including as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. This overview focuses on zeolites synthesised from coal fly ash (CFA). Human activities and industrial developments generate large volumes of polluted water, which have a significant ecological impact. Industrial wastewater may consist of different pollutant types, but of specific interest to this work are heavy metals, which. Heavy metal ions are among the most dangerous pollutants due to their toxicity and carcinogenicity. This overview covers the recent scientific literature, focused on using CFA-derived zeolites to remove Ni, Hg, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Co both from synthetic solutions replicating industrial wastewater and actual wastewater streams. The results described in many papers cited in this review look promising for industrial wastewater treatment operations. Furthermore, the large variety of possible synthetic zeolites provides a route for energy-efficient, pollutant-specific remediation of industrial heavy metals.

KEYWORDS:

• Zeolites
• coal fly ash
• heavy metals
• extraction
• CFA

Acknowledgements

The McGill Engineering Doctoral Award (MEDA) from the Faculty of Engineering at McGill University is also acknowledged for a scholarship awarded to S. Buzukashvili.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Teck Resources Limited, COREM, SGS Canada Inc. and Flottec, under the Collaborative Research and Development Grants Program [grant number CRDPJ-531957-18].