Life performance evaluation of lyophilized Moringa biocoagulant: An alternative for prolonging the biocoagulant efficiency

Abstract

AbstractThe use of Moringa oleifera (MO) seeds has been the subject of studies to treat water and effluents due to its biocoagulant potential. However, one of the factors that prevent its use at an industrial level is its short shelf life after preparation. In view of this problem, the present study aimed to produce an MO biocoagulant for pre‐treatment via the lyophilization method, to prolong the shelf life of the extract. After optimizing the evaluated preparation conditions (2.38 g of MO for 100 ml of distilled water in 4 min of ultrasound extraction) in synthetic wastewater (using the commercial blue 5G dye), the biocoagulant was produced. Using different salt concentrations (NaCl and KCl) with the goal of improving the extraction, the produced biocoagulant was lyophilized, stored and assessed monthly in a comparative study with the inorganic aluminum sulfate coagulant apply to a textile laundry effluent. Although the biocoagulant produced is less efficient than conventional inorganic ones, the performance evaluation proved to be very satisfactory, obtaining 67.13% color removal and 91.98% turbidity for MO, which when compared to aluminum sulfate achieved removal rates of 81.45% and 92%, respectively. Thus, it is presented as a great alternative for pre‐textile wastewater treatment.