Speciation and Removal of Arsenic in column packed with chitosan

The arsenic speciation and arsenic removal in chitosan packed column were studied. Arsenic removal experiments were carried out with an arsenic standard solution (1.0 mg/l) and drilled well water samples from Limon Mine Community at different pH, water flowrate, and volume of adsorbent material. The simulation of arsenic speciation was carried out at a pH range from 0 to 12, a temperature of 25ºC, a pE equal to 4, and a total arsenic concentration of 1.34 x 10^-5 mol kg-1. According to speciation calculations arsenic is found mainly in oxidized form in the conditions of Limon Mine’s drilled well waters, dihydrogen arsenate ion (H2AsO₄^-), and hydrogen arsenate ion (HAsO₄^2-) being the major species. The experiments showed that arsenic adsorption depends mainly on the pH as well as the activity of functional groups that compose the chitosan structure. At pH 3 and volume of adsorbent material of 337.8 cm3 an adsorption of 94% was obtained from arsenic standard solution, and the arsenic present in the Limon Community’s water was almost totally removed at pH 3 and 7. The use of the results for designing purposes demands the breakthrough curves for chitosan to be determined.