Determination of heavy metal removal potential of the Samsun Coast mussel shells

The removal capacity of mussel shells in removing heavy metals such as lead and nickel from wastewaters prepared synthetically was investigated by using the shells collected from samsun coasts within the scope of this work. in the studies, mussel shells were used in two different forms. in the first form, raw mussel shells were only grinded. on the other one, the mussel shells were pretreated by using sulfuric acid after grinding. the heavy metal removal potential of mussel shells was investigated using various variables such as ph, time and mussel shell dosage in experimental studies. tests were conducted at 25 °c constant temperature and a shaking speed of 150 rpm. the size of the mussel shell used in experimental studies was chosen as 45-125 μm. it was concluded from the results of the studies carried out by using raw mussel shells that the dominant mechanism was chemical precipitation according to the ph values after treatment process. it has been understood that the treatment mechanism was adsorption when the treatment performance of the pretreated mussel shells was in question. lead and nickel ion concentrations were reduced from approximately 100 mg/l to 3.90 mg/l and 73.62 mg/l, respectively by using raw mussel shells. in the tests conducted with pretreated mussel shells, only lead removal was studied and lead concentration of approximately 100 mg/l was decreased to 9.22 mg/l at ph 2. adsorbent uptake capacity was found to be 244.74 mg/g at 0.4 g/l mussel shell dosage for pretreated mussel shells.