Introduction:

According to Barros (2017), Bentonite is a mixture of clays, generally impure, very fine grained, formed mainly by 60 to 80% of montmorillonite and also Kaolinite, Calcite and Pyrite. At the operational base of Petromoc Maputo Company, there is a set of tanks for fuel storage, that from a complex of tanks with coupled pipelines for the entry and withdrawal of fuels and effluent disposal.

Objective:

To evaluate the use of bentonite in the removal of toxic cations from the effluents generated at Petromoc Company.

Materials and Methods:

Bentonite samples were collected at the Industrial Minerals company. The effluent and influent samples were collected in the separator box of the operational base. The physicochemical experiments were carried out at the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory of the Eduardo Mondlane University. For the physical characterization of the bentonite, the pycnometric density, porosity (P) and specific surface area were determined. The mineralogical characterization was performed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The chemical characterization of the effluent and influent was performed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy.

Results and Discussion:

Mineralogical characterization showed the presence of bentonite minerals. The pH of the effluent before interacting with the bentonite was 3.22, after interaction the pH is between 5.8 and 9. High concentrations of Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Titanium (Ti) and Zinc (Zn) were determined in the effluent before the interaction with the bentonite. After the interaction, a removal of toxic elements is verified.

Conclusions:

The bentonite showed high efficiency in the removal of toxic cations.

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