Kole, ZehraOcal, Zehra BetulOmwene, Philip IsaacSoydemir, GulfemKeskinler, BulentKaragunduz, Ahmet2024-07-032024-07-032024-03-04Kole, Z., Ocal, Z. B., Omwene, P. I., Soydemir, G., Keskinler, B., & Karagunduz, A. (2024). Boric acid recovery from wastewater by chromatographic separation and mathematical modeling. Journal of Cleaner Production, 448, 141633.1879-17861879-1786https://dir.muni.ac.ug/handle/20.500.12260/652The new approaches in industrial wastewater management underscores the importance of reclaiming valuable materials. Within the boron industry, the generation of substantial wastewater containing preliminary boron species is a significant concern. This study focuses on recovering boric acid from boron production wastewater, addressing the challenge of separating impurities like sulfate, calcium, and magnesium. The methodology adopts chromatographic separation using a cation exchange resin in two forms: (1) Finex CS10GC cation exchanger in Na+ form and (2) Finex CS10GC cation exchanger in Ca2+/Mg2+ form. Notably, the Finex CS10GC ion exchanger in Na+ form achieves a separation efficiency of 95.5 % at a flow rate of 5 mL/min with a 0.20 bed volume (BV) loading. In contrast, the Ca2+/Mg2+ loaded resin achieves a separation efficiency of 23.3 % at the same flow rate. As the boron loading rate decreases to 10 %, the separation efficiency increases to 42.6 %. The flow rate also plays a crucial role, as an increase corresponds to a decrease in separation efficiency. Notably, the Finex CS10GC ion exchanger in Na+ form consistently exhibits superior separation efficiency and band resolution. A mathematical model is introduced to simulate the effective separation of boric acid from other impurities. The quality of the recovered boric acid conforms to the standard grade (Merck KGaA), exhibiting a purity level within the range of 99.5–100 %, suggesting substantial economic value. The proposed recovery process contributes significantly to environmental preservation by mitigating waste discharge, exemplifying a noteworthy commitment to resource conservation.enBoron recoveryIon exchangeChromatographic separationModelingWastewater treatmentWastewater reuseArticle