Removal efficiency and adsorption aspects of sand & bagasse for residual surfactant from laundry wastewater (LW)

Abstract

Techno-economic, sustainable and eco-friendly approaches for removal of the residual surfactants from laundry wastewater (LW) had always been a prime necessity of environment especially for floral diversity. In the present study, river sand and bagasse were used as adsorbents for removal of residual surfactant from LW via adsorption. Anionic content of surfactant of LW (treated and untreated) was determined by hyamine solution. The effect of adsorbent size, mass of adsorbent and duration of adsorption on removal efficiency was studied. Results revealed that 90 micrometer (µm) particle size, 9 grams (g) adsorbent mass and 6 minutes duration for adsorption by sand as an adsorbent reflected 97.6% removal efficiency for surfactants from LW. On the other hand, 150 µm particle size showed 99.2% removal efficiency at 0.1 g adsorbent mass for 2 minutes duration of adsorption using bagasse as an adsorbent. The cementing aspects of treated LW were also investigated and it was found that treated LW by both adsorbents was superior in all the studied properties of cementing parameters. On comparison, bagasse was much better adsorbent with respect to quantity (mass of adsorbent) as well as duration of adsorption to remove residual surfactant from LW.