Because biosorption is a low cost and effective method for treating metal-bearing wastewaters, understanding the process kinetics is relevant for design purposes. In the present study, the performance of the aquatic moss Fontinalis antipyretica for removing cadmium and lead from simulated wastewaters has been evaluated. Five kinetic models (first-order, pseudo-first-order, Elovich, modified Ritchie second-order and pseudo-second-order) were fitted to the experimental data and compared. Previously, the effect of parameters such as the initial solution pH, contact time, and initial metal ion concentration on biosorption was investigated. The initial pH of the solution was found to have an optimum value in the range of 4.0-6.0. The equilibrium sorption capacity of cadmium and lead by Fontinalis antipyretica increased with the initial metal concentration. For an initial metal concentration of 10 mg L-1, the uptake capacity of the moss, at equilibrium, is the same for both metals (4.8 mg g-1). Nevertheless, when the initial concentration increases up to 100 mg L-1, the uptake of Pb(II) was higher than 78%. The pseudo-second order biosorption kinetics provided the better correlation with the experimental data (R² ≥ 0.999)

A sequence with three stages was optimized as a primary treatment for wastewaters from a fish canning industry of northern Portugal. Sedimentation tests were assessed at different times. The removal of a high fraction (75%) of oil and grease (O&G) and of some (48%) total suspended solids (TSS) occurred after a settling time of 1.5h. Coagulant dosage and pH value were optimized in the coagulation/flocculation treatment using several organic and inorganic coagulants. Best removal efficiencies (99.2% O&G, 85.8% TSS and 25.2% dissolved organic carbon (DOC)) were reached using 400mg/L of FeCl3 at raw pH wastewater. DAF was also tested, optimizing chamber pressure and recycle ratio. Removals of 94% for O&G and 43% for TSS were achieved. The coupling of the latter two processes was also investigated, but no improvement of the previous results was observed. The best approach proved to be a decantation process followed by coagulation/flocculation treatment