Removal of hexavalent chromium using nano zero valent iron and bacterial consortium immobilized alginate beads in a continuous flow reactor

Abstract Sixty days of continuous flow column study was carried out to investigate the removal of Cr(VI) using NZVI immobilized in alginate beads (NZVI beads) and bacterial consortium immobilized alginate beads (bio beads) in a sequence process. Initially continuous flow study in glass column was done to set the parameter for the pilot scale studies. Under the optimized conditions, Cr(VI) removal by NZVI beads, bio beads and sequential removal process showed 79 ± 6.22%, 51 ± 4.23 and 96 ± 3.9% removal percentage and 177 ± 5.0, 224 ± 8.16, and 421 ± 10.14 mg/g removal capacity respectively. The current study determines the influences of NZVI immobilized beads and bio beads for the Cr(VI) removal in contaminated groundwater. The process applicability using both the NZVI beads and bio beads was successfully analysed with Cr(VI) spiked groundwater sample. The process of Cr(VI) removal was determined using SEM–EDX, FTIR and mathematical models.