Modeling of disperse dye adsorption onto bamboo-based activated carbon in fixed-bed column

ABSTRACT

The adsorption of I.C. Disperse Orange 30 (DO30) onto bamboo-based activated carbon (BMAC) was investigated in a fixed-bed column. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of important parameters: bed depth (4–8 cm), flow rate (10–30 mL/min), and inlet DO30 concentrations (50–200 mg/L). The experimental results showed that the breakthrough time decreased with increased flow rate and inlet concentration and it decreased bed height. The highest bed capacity of 39.97 mg/g was obtained to use 100 mg/L inlet DO30 concentration, 8 cm bed height, and 10 mL/min flow rate. Adams–Bohart, bed depth service time (BDST), Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models were applied to predict the breakthrough point using linear regression and to determine the characteristic parameters of the column. Thomas model prediction was in a very good agreement with the experimental results at all the process parameters. The study indicates that it is very suitable for BMAC column design.

Keywords:

• Disperse dye
• Activated carbon
• Adsorption
• Breakthrough
• Modeling

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the research grant provided by University Science Malaysia under the RU Grant Scheme.