Removal of selenium from contaminated waters
- TDA Research, Inc., Wheat Ridge, CO (United States); and others
Selenium, an essential nutrient in minute quantities, is known to be toxic and is a suspected carcinogen at higher concentrations. The toxicity and teratogenicity of selenium to waterfowl present difficulties in disposing of selenium contaminated waters. Included in the U.S. EPA`s list of priority pollutants, selenium is presently the primary water treatment challenge for many West Coast petroleum refineries. Depending on the type of crude oil processed, selenium can be found in refinery process waters at levels up to 5 mg/L with flowrates approaching 1000 gallons per minute. Agricultural drainage waters emanating from irrigated farm lands in the seleniferous areas of the western United States are another major source of selenium contaminated waters. Because of the high mobility of some selenium compounds, they are easily leached from these soils by irrigation water. Within central California alone, there is a current need for the treatment of about 2 million gallons per day of selenium contaminated agricultural drainage water in concentrations approaching 0.5 mg/L. This paper will present an improved process for the removal of selenium from contaminated waters.
- OSTI ID:
- 126587
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950402-; TRN: 95:006086-0572
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 209. American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting, Anaheim, CA (United States), 2-6 Apr 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of 209th ACS national meeting; PB: 2088 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Dissolved constituents including selenium in waters in the vicinity of Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge and the west Grassland, Fresno and Merced Counties, California
Bacterial reduction of selenite to elemental selenium