Characterization of Chromium (VI) Interaction with Rivers Sediments-In Relation to the Composition

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the mobility of chromium (VI) in aquatic systems by studying its interaction with different rivers sediments. The studied sediments were collected from the river Essouk which flows through a mining area in Skikda, and from the river Hemimime which flows through an industrial area in Constantine. The Cr(VI) fixation experiments on the studied sediments were carried out in batch. The results obtained show that the fixation of Cr(VI) is mainly related to the composition of the sediments. Sediments with a predominance of schwertmannite fix Cr(VI) better. The predominance of jarosite or calcite in sediments, implies a low Cr(VI) retention capacity. In the three cases, the kinetics of Cr(VI) fixation follows the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherm is best described by the Freundlich model in the case of the jarosite predominance and by the Langmuir model in the case of the schwertmannite or the calcite predominance.