poconos pennsylvania university research laboratory

Arsenic Research Project

Partners:  
Engelhard Corporation, Iselin, NJ
B.F. Environmental Consultants, PA, 
and Wilkes University, 
Wilkes- Barre, PA

Project Status and Milestones
as of March 8, 2002

 

1. Initial permeability testing of the materials has been completed.

2. Preliminary flow through testing chamber has been redesigned and pilot unit has been constructed.

3. Static testing of the materials for As V and As III removal at ambient pH and pH 7 has been completed.

4. Initial kinetics testing for As V removal at pH 7 using 7 materials at an initial total arsenic concentration of 100 ppb to 1 mg/L has been completed.

5.Preliminary testing has been conducted to determine the effect of the solution pH and the arsenic removal capacity of the materials.  

 

Photos of Various Phases of Project

Initial Static Testing


Mixing Apparatus Used 
to Conduct Static Testing


Samples were then filtered preserved with acid, digested and analyzed for Arsenic using a Graphite Furnace.

 

Kinetics Experiments


Because mixing did NOT provide adequate contact the 
with the material


An EPA tumbling / extraction device was used to try and maximize contact between the material and the fluid

As part of the Kinetics Experiments, the seven materials were evaluated by exposing a controlled amount of the material to a known mass of arsenic.  Subsamples were collected at the following time intervals: 1 minute, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, and 24 hours.

 


As part of the project, the pH / mv of the test solution was monitored prior to starting the testing and during each sampling.  A series of samples were tested under a variety of solution pH.


After preservation and digestion the samples were analyzed by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption.  During the analysis, know samples were evaluated to evaluate the accuracy of the data.

A preliminary summary report has been submitted by Dr. Brian Whitman and Mr. Brian Oram to Mrs. Valerie Bell,  Engelhard Project Researcher. 

The laboratory technician in the photos is Mr. John Pagoda.  He is a research assistant and consultant working with the Center for Environmental Quality at Wilkes University.

For More information about the Environmental Quality Center, please contact:

Attn: Mr. Brian Oram, Professional Geologist (PG)
Laboratory Director
Wilkes University
Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
PO Box 111
84 West South Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766

Mr. Brian Oram, Principle and Primary Researcher

!!! Thank You For Visiting !!!

PS: Hello Valerie ! 

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