Removal of Nickel(II) ion from Industrial Waste Water employing Ion Exchange Process

The presence of Nickel (II) ion in the wastewater from the metal industry can be unfavourable to living species. Nickel ion in the water caused damaged to human being as well as to the environment. Ion exchange technology was chosen to be applied in this study to treat nickel ion and enhance the quality of the wastewater from the industry. Ion exchange is a reversible chemical reaction wherein ion from the solution is exchanged for a similarly charged ion attached to the resins. In this project, the removal of Nickel (II) ion from wastewater using a strong acid and strong base resin in fixed beds column will be investigated. The purpose of the project is to determine the optimum condition for the removal of metal ions from the waste water solution. The experiments were performed under different pH values (3, 5,and 7) and different pollutant’s initial concentrations(1.8, 2.8, and 3.8 g Ni/L). Besides, the effect of regeneration of the resin is conducted and evaluated. The result of the removal efficiency and rate of removal is shown in the breakthrough curves and the kinetic for the process is calculated. The continuous study showed that the exchange isotherm is well fitted by the Thomas Model. Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) is used to measure the Nickel ion concentration to be compared against the environmental limit. The effect of waste water treatment to the characterization of the resins is determined by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Results from this project can help to design an appropriate heavy metal removal technique by using ion exchange process in order to minimize the negative impacts caused by industrial waste water.