Comparison of mineral acid pretreatments for sulfide removal

Both sulfuric and carbonic acid improved sulfide removal by lowering pH, but only carbonic acid preserved alkalinity and proved less corrosive. To determine water quality effects on groundwater treatment for hydrogen sulfide, the authors compared sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) and carbonic acid for pH ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal AWWA
Main Authors: Duranceau, Steven J., Anderson, Robert K., Teegarden, Robert D.
Other Authors: Orange County Utilities
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1999
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1551-8833.1999.tb08637.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fj.1551-8833.1999.tb08637.x
https://awwa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.1551-8833.1999.tb08637.x
Description
Summary:Both sulfuric and carbonic acid improved sulfide removal by lowering pH, but only carbonic acid preserved alkalinity and proved less corrosive. To determine water quality effects on groundwater treatment for hydrogen sulfide, the authors compared sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) and carbonic acid for pH adjustment pretreatment in a pilot‐scale (40‐gpm [2.5‐L/s]) randomly oriented packed tower. Pretreatment with either H 2 SO 4 or carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to pH 6.0 resulted in > 95 percent sulfide removal for tower feedwater sulfide concentrations of 2.5 mg/L. However, utilization of H 2 SO 4 for pH adjustment resulted in a loss of alkalinity in the finished water and an increase in sulfur (as sulfate), whereas CO 2 pretreatment preserved alkalinity in the finished water and did not increase sulfur (as sulfate).