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The performance of a continuous system for
biosorption and desorption of zinc, cadmium, manganese and copper by the seaweed Sargassum
sp. The
biosorption of cadmium, zinc, manganese and copper was carried out using brown seaweed
Sargassum sp. in natura and regenerated with EDTA. The study was done in a continuous
system consisting of four serial fixed-bed reactors filled up with a dry biomass of
Sargassum sp. as adsorbing bed. The synthetic effluent consisted of a mixed solution
containing the four metal ions, at 150 mg/L concentration, each one. It could be observed
that the system was able to treat the mixed solution, in the preference order of
Cu>Cd>Zn>Mn, both when in natura and regenerated biomass were used. Results also
indicated that the amount of metals biosorbed by each column decreased, as a function of
the pre-treatment performed by the previous reactor. The regenerated Sargassum sp. biomass
presented a decreased biosorption capacity, due to partial desorption or destruction of
adsorption sites on the surface of the seaweed. The system, as a whole, was able to treat
a high amount of concentrated metals solution, generating outlet solutions able to be
discharged according to Brazilian federal environmental legislation.
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