The purpose of this paper was to
investigate the performance of ceramic filters made from a mixture of natural clay, rice bran, and iron powder
in removing cadmium from pulp industry effluent. Some parameters
were examined such as acidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), total suspended
solid (TSS), electrical conductivity (EC), and cadmium concentration. Results
showed that the composition percentage of
the ceramic filter, which in this case amounted to 87.5% natural clay, 10% rice
bran, and 2.5% iron powder, may decrease cadmium concentration in pulp industry
effluent by up to 99.0%. Furthermore,
the permeate flux decreased after 30 minutes of filtration time, and subsequently became constant at one
hour of contact time. In addition,
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs of the ceramic filter surfaces
indicate that ceramic filters have a random pore structure and can be categorized as microfiltration filters