The removal of Cu (II) ions from water by chicken eggshell powder adsorption was examined in a fixed-bed column. Kinetics data were satisfactorily described by a pseudo-second order chemisorption model. A 100% adsorption of Cu (II) ions at the initial copper concentration of 50 mg/L was obtained by using an eggshell amount of 8.0 g packed in the pilot-scale column with a height of 16 cm, and flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. Regarding co-adsorption with other metal ions, the Pb (II) ions reduced the adsorption of Cu (II) ions. However, the eggshell in fixed-bed column can remove Cu (II) ions from water by up to 83% in a mixed metal system. Then 0.5 M BaCl2 with a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min can desorb about 60% of the Cu (II) ions. This process can be scaled up for the removal of heavy metal ions in actual wastewater treatment.
