Production, disposal, and efficient technique used in the separation of heavy metals from red meat abattoir wastewater

Atangana, Ernestine

Production, disposal, and efficient technique used in the separation of heavy metals from red meat abattoir wastewater

2020

Atangana, Ernestine

The availability of clean water from the already scarce sources is threatened by continuous addition of contaminated industrial and of abattoir waste into watercourses globally. The aim of the current study was to reduce the amount of waste produced, to decrease pollution derived from discharge of effluent meat wastewater, and also to minimise environmental health risk. This was all achieved by successfully synthesising a natural biopolymer chitin chitin-chitosan derivative derived from crab shell waste. Characterisation of the chitin polymer using physicochemical properties like yield, ash content, degree of acetylation, solubility, intrinsic viscosity, and molecular weight indicated that crab shell waste was a good source of chitin. This polymer was later deacetylated to form chitosan and then cross-linked with s-methylbutylamine to form chitin-chitosan adsorbent. The effectiveness of the above-modified product in purifying meat wastewater was conducted by means of comparative testing using hydride gas atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results of the qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that chitosan cross-linked s-methylbutylamine was efficient in removing the following metal ions: Cu (II), Zn (II), Cr (II), Pb (II), and Cr (II). The highest removal percentage was Cr (IV) and Pb (II) (95.45 and 92.66%), while Zn (II) and Fe (II) were 87.32 and 67.48%. The lowest percentage recovery of 38.55% was observed for the metal Cr. From the current study, it was evident that the cross-linked can significantly reduce the metal concentration in meat wastewater before it is released in the aquatic environment. Therefore, properly permitted international waste disposal methods should be employed to reduce adverse effects on the receiving environment.

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