Adsorptive treatment of brewery effluent using activated Chrysophyllum albidium seed shell carbon

Abstract

Chrysophyllum albidium seed shell, an abundant, biodegradable and inexpensive natural resource was used as a precursor to bioadsorbent production for the removal of suspended and dissolved particles (SDP) from initially coagulated Brewery Effluent (BRE). Influence of key parameters such as contact time, bioadsorbent dose, pH and temperature were investigated using batch mode. The thermal behavior studies were evaluated using Thermogravimetric and Differential scanning calorimetric analyses. The morphological observations and functional groups of the bioadsorbents were determined using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The adsorption equilibrium, thermodynamics and kinetic of SDP adsorption on H3PO4- treated shell and NH4Cl-treated shell were examined at specified temperatures. Equilibrium data sufficiently fitted the Langmuir isotherm model (R2 > 0.99; SSE < 0.09). The pseudo-second order kinetic model provided the best correlation (R2 > 0.99; SSE < 0.14) with the experimental data. The values of ΔG° and ΔH° indicated the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the process. This study demonstrated that C. albidium seed shell could be utilized as low cost, renewable, ecofriendly bioadsorbent for the uptake of SDP from BRE.