Kobe Steel Develops an Iron Powder that Removes Arsenic

Kobe Steel Ltd. developed an iron powder that can efficiently absorb and remove arsenic, it announced on May 9, 2007. The iron powder can purify groundwater and wastewater emanating from factories or hot springs. This technology can bring arsenic concentrations down to the government standard of 0.01 milligram per liter by filtering the polluted water through a container holding iron powder.

Using an original water atomization technology, Kobe Steel dramatically increased the capacity of iron powder to absorb toxic substances, including arsenic, by alloying it with an agent that promotes the iron-arsenic absorption reaction. The iron powder can also purify water polluted by heavy metals such as selenium, lead and cadmium.

Demand for arsenic removal is very high in Japan; it is estimated that every year treatment of thousands of tons of contaminated water is required. The conventional co-precipitation method utilizes a chemical reaction between iron salts and arsenic that precipitates an insoluble iron-arsenic compound. However, this method requires complicated treatment processes, and produces huge amounts of sludge containing arsenic. Other removal methods utilize certain kinds of rare metals such as cerium and lanthanum, but cost problems remain.

Kobe Steel's newly developed method solves these problems by using iron powder to absorb and remove arsenic. It has double the capacity for absorbing arsenic of existing adsorbent agents, though it costs only half as much. The company will put the iron powder on the market as the second product in a series, the first having been an iron powder product that detoxifies volatile organic compounds. The company hopes to strengthen its environment-friendly product lines.

http://www.kobelco.co.jp/english/index.html
- Naturally-Acting Arsenic Adsorbent Products to Debut (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1060-e
- New Technology Removes Organic Arsenic from Soil (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1321-e

Posted: 2007/10/27 03:43:49 PM
Japanese version