A Study On Leachability And Removal Of Chromium From TCCL Site At Ranipet, Vellore District

IJEP 41(9): 1013-1018 : Vol. 41 Issue. 9 (September 2021)

Vanitha Murugaiyan1* and Muthukumaran2

1. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Arumbakkam, Chennai – 600 106, Tamil Nadu, India
2. Presidency College (Autonomous), Post Graduate and Research Department of Chemistry, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The unscientific disposal of chromium ore processing residue (COPR) in Ranipet area, contaminate the groundwater in the vicinity. Due to the continuous leaching of Cr(VI) from the COPR, the removal of chromium from the groundwater alone is a challenging task. Though several works of literature have confirmed the presence of Cr(VI) in the vicinity, none of them has reported a technology for the removal of Cr(VI) from the contaminated groundwater in this site. This report highlights a recorded value of Cr(VI) as 2018 mg/L in the groundwater and soil contamination in the range of 18-26.2 mg/g within the site. The analysis of water samples collected within 3.0 km from downstream of the dumpsite has revealed the presence of Cr(VI) in the range of 0.053 to 2018 mg/L. Experiments have shown the result of 100% removal of Cr(VI) upon the usage of SnCl2 and Na2S2O5 from the groundwater containing 2000 mg/L of Cr(VI). The report suggests that no acid was required for the reduction of Cr(VI) on the usage of tin chloride and the dosage required for complete removal of Cr(VI) is compared with sodium metabisulphite. As the rate of removal of Cr(VI) is faster in the chemical treatment, the reduction and precipitation method is recommended for treating the contaminated groundwater at this site.

Keywords

COPR, Cr(VI) treatment, SnCl2, Na2S2O5, reduction and precipitation, sludge disposal

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