REMOVAL OF MERCURY FROM AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS VIA POLYMER-ENHANCED ULTRAFILTRATION

Separation of mercury from aqueous solutions by continuous polymer-enh anced ultrafiltration (PEUF) was investigated. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) was added to the solutions as the complexing agent before circulating the solution in a laboratory-scale continuous ultrafiltration system. Effects of mercury-to-polymer ratio, pressure drop and feed solution circulation rate on retention of mercury and permeate flux were studie d. Constant retention values close to unity were obtained until a crit ical mercury-to-polymer ratio was exceeded. For higher metal loadings, retention values decreased linearly. Permeate flux increased linearly with pressure drop and was not affected by other parameters such as m etal loading and feed circulation rate. Therefore, concentration polar ization was not a problem for the studied range of variables.