Equilibrium and kinetic studies on free cyanide adsorption from aqueous solution by activated carbon

Abstract

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of free cyanide onto activated carbon were investigated in the batch tests, and the effects of contact time (1–72 h) and initial cyanide concentrations in the range of 102–532 mg/L were studied. Linear regression was used to determine the best fit of equilibrium and kinetics expressions. The two-parameter models including Freundlich, Dubinin–Radushkevich, Temkin and four different linearized forms of Langmuir and three-parameter models including Redlich–Peterson and Koble–Corrigan were employed for fitting the equilibrium data and it was found that, three-parameter models fitted the data better than the two-parameter models and among the three-parameter models the equilibrium data are best represented by Koble–Corrigan model. A number of kinetic models including fractional power, zero order, first order, pseudo-first order, Elovich, second order, intraparticle diffusion and four different linearized forms of pseudo-second order models were tested to fit the kinetic data. The latter was found to be consistent with the data. Intraparticle diffusion plots show that the adsorption process of free cyanide is a two steps process. In the first step, the adsorption of cyanide is fast while in the second step, cyanide adsorption slows down.