Adsorption of reactive dyes from aqueous solutions by fly ash: kinetic and equilibrium studies

Adsorption kinetic and equilibrium studies of three reactive dyes namely, Remazol Brillant Blue (RB), Remazol Red 133 (RR) and Rifacion Yellow HED (RY) from aqueous solutions at various initial dye concentration (100–500 mg/l), pH (2–8), particle size (45–112.5 μm) and temperature (293–323 K) on fly ash (FA) were studied in a batch mode operation. The adsorbent was characterized with using several methods such as SEM, XRD and FTIR. Adsorption of RB reactive dye was found to be pH dependent but both RR and RY reactive dyes were not. The result showed that the amount adsorbed of the reactive dyes increased with increasing initial dye concentration and contact time. Batch kinetic data from experimental investigations on the removal of reactive dyes from aqueous solutions using FA have been well described by external mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion models. It was found that external mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion had rate limiting affects on the removal process. This was attributed to the relatively simple macropore structure of FA particles. The adsorption data fitted well with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The optimum conditions for removal of the reactive dyes were 100 mg/l initial dye concentration, 0.6 g/100 ml adsorbent dose, temperature of 293 K, 45 μm particle size, pH 6 and agitation speed of 250 rpm, respectively. The values of Langmuir and Freundlich constants were found to increase with increasing temperature in the range 135–180 and 15–34 mg/g for RB, 47–86 and 1.9–3.7 mg/g for RR and 37–61 and 3.0–3.6 mg/g for RY reactive dyes, respectively. Different thermodynamic parameters viz., changes in standard free energy, enthalpy and entropy were evaluated and it was found that the reaction was spontaneous and endothermic in nature.     

Carbonate effects and pH-dependence of uranium sorption onto bacteriogenic iron oxides: kinetic and equilibrium studies

The removal of U(VI) from groundwaters by adsorption onto bacteriogenic iron oxides (BIOS) has been investigated under batch mode. The adsorbent dosage, the uranium concentration, the concentration of carbonate and the use of a real groundwater spiked with uranium comprised the examined parameters. In addition, the effect of pH was examined in two different water matrixes, i.e., in distilled water and in real groundwater. Equilibrium studies were carried out to determine the maximum adsorption capacity of BIOS and the data correlated well with the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The presence of carbonate affected adversely the adsorption of U(VI) onto BIOS. The maximum adsorption capacity of BIOS was 9.25 mg g(-1) at 0.1mM carbonate concentration and decreased to 6.93 mg g(-1) at 0.5mM carbonate concentration, whereas at carbonate concentration of 2mM practically no adsorption occurred. The data were further analyzed using the pseudo-second order kinetic equation, which fitted best the experimental results. The initial adsorption rate (h) was found to increase with decreasing the concentration of carbonate in all cases. When experiments were accomplished in the absence of carbonate, the pH values did not have an effect on the adsorption of U(VI). However, the extent of U(VI) adsorption was strongly pH-dependent when the experiments were carried out in the real groundwater. The maximum adsorption capacity increased sharply as the pH decreased and optimum removal was obtained in the pH range 3.2-4.0, thus bacteriogenic iron oxides can found application in the removal of U(VI) by adsorption from low pH or low carbonate waters.