Selective removal and recovery of Black B reactive dye from simulated textile wastewater using the supported liquid membrane process

Abstract

Effluent containing colour/dyes, especially reactive dyes, becomes a great concern of wastewater treatment because it is toxic to human life and aquatic life. In this study, reactive dye of Black B was separated using the supported liquid membrane process. Commercial polypropylene membrane was used as a support of the kerosene–tridodecylamine liquid membrane. Several parameters were tested and the result showed that almost 100% of 70 ppm Black B was removed and 99% of 70 ppm Black B was recovered at pH 2 of the feed phase containing 0.00001 M Na₂SiO₃, flow rate of 150 ml/min and 0.2 M NaOH. The membrane support also remained stable for up to 36 hours under an optimum condition.

Keywords:

• Black B
• supported liquid membrane
• membrane support
• recovery
• stability

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher Education (FRGS GRANT: 4F048) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for financial support of this research.