Effective recovery of harmful metal ions from squid wastes using subcritical and supercritical water treatments.

The Japanese common squid wastes contained high concentration of metal ions such as 31.7 ppm Cd(II), 264.0 ppm Cu(II), and 140.0 ppm Zn(II). The use of sub- and supercritical water treatment has been investigated as a new method of recovering heavy metals from squid wastes. The reactions were carried out in the temperature range of 443-653 K, a pressure range of 0.792-30 MPa, and reaction times of 1-40 min. The wastes were decomposed into soluble proteins, organic acids, amino acids, and so on in the aqueous phase, and the fat and oil were extracted by sub- and supercritical water. The maximum yields on concentration of Cd(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) in the solid, fat, and oil phases were found at 653, 573, and 513-573 K, respectively. The aqueous phase showed the lowest concentration of the metal ions (0.05-0.5 ppm). The distribution coefficient of metal ions in the fat, solid, and oil phases to aqueous phase were examined and found highest in the fat phase (max. 48 000). The solid phase (max. 39,000) and oil phase (max. 245) showed the second and third highest. Moreover, the fat and oil phases produced during this method act as chelating agents to catch metal ions with an order of recovery of Cu2+ > Zn2+ > Cd2+ and Zn2+ > Cu2+ > Cd2+, respectively.