Isotherm, kinetics and trickling flow studies for removal of chromium from synthetic effluent by using mixed fruit peels (MFP)

Abstract

Chromium is used for various applications in chemical, leather, paint, dyes and many other industries. Effluent from these industries contains considerable amount of chromium. Removal of chromium from the effluent is very important aspect of investigations on wastewater treatment. In the present investigation mixed fruit peels (MFP) are used as biosorbent for chromium removal. These fruit peels are used in batch operations to study isotherm and kinetics. It was observed that the chromium removal followed first and second order kinetics. The R2 values more than 0.94 for both indicated excellent fit to the kinetic equations. In case of isotherms, the data followed both, Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm. Then these are used in trickle beds to study the effect of various parameters on the removal efficiency. The break through time was (time required to reach 10 percent of original concentration) 13, 24, 35 for the flow rates 120, 80 and 40 ml/min for initial concentration of 1000 mg/l. It was observed that for change in the concentration from 500 to 250 mg/l, the breakthrough time delays. It again decreases for 100 mg/l.