Extraction of Heavy Metals from Sludge Using Biodegradable Chelating Agent N,N-bis( carboxymethyl) Glutamic Acid Tetrasodium

N, N-bis (carboxymethyl) glutamic acid tetrasodium (GLDA), a novel biodegradable and green chelating agent, has excellent metal chelating ability. Batch experiment was conducted to study the extraction process of Cd, Ni, Cu and Zn in industrial sludge using GLDA. The effects of contact time, pH of the system, content of chelating agent were investigated, and the forms of heavy metals in sludge pre- and post-extraction using the modified BCR sequential extraction procedure were studied. The results showed that GLDA was effective for cadmium extraction in sludge. Several heavy metals could be effectively extracted under the condition of pH 4 and molar ratio of chelating agent to total heavy metal 3:1. Residual fraction took the largest fraction in Zn, which caused the low extraction efficiency of this metal. Chelating properties were related not only to contact time, pH, chelating agent's concentration, and stability constant but also to species distribution of metals.