Nickel removal from aqueous solutions by flotation with cationic collector. Determination of the optimum separation conditions [articol]

Abstract

Nickel removal from dilute aqueous solutions is studied for environmental protection and nickel recovery. The paper presents the removal of nickel from dilute aqueous solutions by flotation (dispersed-air-flotation) at a laboratory scale, using a cationic collector (octadecilamine). The optimum values of the main parameters influencing this process were determined. (pH of Ni(II) solutions, molar ratio octadecilamine:Ni(II), air flow rate, flotation time, temperature and initial concentration of metal ions in sample). An atomic absorption spectrophotometer PYE UNICAM model SP 1900 was used to determine the nickel content of the solutions. The nickel removal efficiency was calculated with the relation: R% = (1- C/C₀)⋅100, where C₀ and C are initial and after flotation concentrations of nickel ions in solutions. Using the optimal conditions, high removal degree of nickel (> 98%) was obtained.