Abstract
The highly contaminated rubber wastewater (RWW) was the main obstacle for the rubber industry in Malaysia. Bimetallic nanoparticles have demonstrated outstanding performance in wastewater treatment attributed to the synergistic effect among the different metals. In this study, immobilised iron/copper bimetallic nanoparticles (nanoFeCu) were used to remove ammonia, organic matter, and total suspended solids (TSS) from RWW. The effect of the RWW flow rate on the treatment was studied using nanoFeCu packed column, and its long-term performance was validated under the optimum flow rate. The results showed that a lower flow rate (36 x 10-3 mLs-1) favours the removal of ammonia (37 %), suggesting longer contact time is required. Meanwhile, a higher is desired for COD removal of RWW, where 115 x 10-3 mLs-1 was identified as the optimum flow rate. This suggested that the higher flow rate increased the mass transfer coefficient, which flavours the organic matter removal. Under the optimised flow rate, the nanoFeCu successfully removed 95.83 % of ammonia from RWW after 520 min. The final ammonia concentration in the treated RWW reached 25 mgL-1 in 9 h, which is close to the desired discharge value. Further research on the hybrid nanoFeCu-membrane separation treatment process is needed to deliver high-quality water that meets stringent standards.
