Authors : B.O. Isiuku, M. Horsfall and A.I. Spiff
Abstract: The uptake of methyl red, an azo dye from aqueous solution onto NaOH-activated cassava peels carbon in a fixed-bed column was studied in this research. The effects of inlet dye concentration, adsorbent bed height and solution flow rate were investigated. The pH of the solution was natural and temperature 28-31°C. Experimental results were applied to the Thomas and Yoon-Nelson Models. Results show that the experimental values of adsorption capacity increased with increase in concentration, decrease in adsorbent bed height and increase in flow rate. However, inlet concentration of 50 mg L-1 showed better performance for the parameters than 100 mg L-1. Optimum adsorption capacity of 206.08 mg g-1 was obtained at carbon bed height of 20 cm, inlet concentration of 200 mg L-1 and flow rate of 13.3 mL min-1. The trend in total removal with respect to inlet concentration, bed height and flow rate was inverse to that of adsorption capacity. The maximum removal of 78.62% was obtained for inlet concentration of 50 mg L-1, carbon bed height of 30 cm and flow rate of 13.3 mL min-1. The experimental results fitted well into the Thomas and Yoon-Nelson Models with R2>0.90 generally.
B.O. Isiuku, M. Horsfall and A.I. Spiff, 2014. Removal of Methyl Red from Aqueous Solution by NaOH-Activated Cassava Peels Carbon in a Fixed-Bed Column. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, 9: 238-243.