Wellington Siqueira Lima
◽
José Vanderley Nascimento Silva
◽
Aline Cadigna Lima Patrício
◽
Guilherme Costa Oliveira
◽
Meiry Glaúcia Freire Rodrigues
The problems caused by contamination of heavy metals generate a growing need to implement technologies to reduce or eliminate them. This work aims to evaluate the potential of gray clay, the process of removal of zinc and lead from synthetic effluents in finite bath system. The clay was characterized by: X-ray diffraction, X-ray Spectroscopy Energy Dispersive and Physical Adsorption of Nitrogen. The tests were performed finite bath following a 22 factorial design, with the variables: pH and initial concentrations of metal. The clays were evaluated for their removal capacity and rate of metal removal. After the characterization and evaluation, it was found that the gray clay comprises clay of the groups of kaolinite and mica. The results of the factorial design shown that the adsorption of the metals zinc and lead can be developed with good percentage of removal.