Removal and recovery of harmful compounds from waste water of photographic processes by synthetic zeolite - Y

The ion-exchange properties of type-Y zeolites are compared to those of the strongly acidic Amberlite IR-120 resin, for the removal and recovery of CD-3 and MAP developing compounds. From the data obtained it is found that the type-Y zeolites have higher potential capacity for the removal of developing compounds, however the relatively large dimensions of some of the developing compounds restrict their inherent capacity to lower values The initial rates of uptake of type-Y zeolites are much higher if the ion-exchange process proceeds at low pH The long term stability of type-Y zeolites is slightly inferior compared to that of the resin In comparison to the cation-exchange resin, the type-Y zeolite is less efficient but faster adsorbent for CD-3 and it is more efficient but slower adsorbent for MAP. The major advantage, however, of the use of zeolites is that they are size-selective ion exchangers