Project Number: 6435-41000-084-05
Project Type: Trust

Start Date: Dec 01, 2001
End Date: Nov 30, 2005

Objective:
To develop and evaluate modified soybean hulls and other agricultural by-products as adsorbent material (cation and/or anion exchange resins) for remediation of storm water runoff and industrial wastewater. To scale up modified by-product technology from ARS, combined with peat technology from Peat Technologies Corporation, in order to develop commercial products that can effectively remove cationic, anionic and organic constituents from storm water runoff and industrial wastewater.

Approach:
ARS will obtain agricultural by-products from suppliers and mill these by-products to various particle sizes. By-products will be modified with citric acid for the production of cation exchange adsorbents or modified with a suitable quaternary amine for the production of anion exchange adsorbents. For example, treat unwashed by-products with various concentrations of citric acid, dry the mixture at a suitable temperature, react the dried products at a suitable time and temperature. Remove unreacted citric acid with water and dry the resulting product. For production of anion exchange adsorbents, treat by-products with a suitable quaternary amine or compound having a quaternary ammonium group, in the presence of different crosslinking agents with reaction times and temperatures and reagent concentrations to be determined by ARS. Additionally, methods will be developed to create bifunctional adsorbents where cation and anion exchange properties will reside on the same by-product particle. All of the procedures are intended to create ion exchange adsorbents with high product yield and high adsorption of cations and/or anions. Determine product yield, attrition values (durability), pH, surface charge and obtain cation and anion adsorption data in both batch and column mode.

Project Team

Marshall, Wayne

Related National Programs

Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products (306)