Abstract
Adsorption is one of the important treatment methods for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. The determination of rate controlling step in the process is important in the design of the process. Therefore, in the present work, mass transfer studies were done to evaluate the rate-limiting step in the adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution ontoLantana camara. Different mass transfer models were used to find the rate-limiting step and also to find the values of external mass transfer coefficient and diffusion coefficient. The Biot number was found to investigate the importance of external mass transfer to intraparticle diffusion. From the various models studied and the Biot numbers obtained, it was found that the adsorption onLantana camarawas controlled by film diffusion. The sensitivity analysis was performed to study the significance of the model parameters on the adsorption process.
Highlights
In the recent time, the increased industrial activities have escalated more environmental problems such as the contamination of water sources due to the accumulation of various toxic pollutants from the industrial wastewater
The current study shows that Lantana camara can be used as a potential adsorbent for the removal of phenol from aqueous solution
The values of external mass transfer coefficient were obtained in the range of 1.4872 × 10−9 to 9.2894 × 10−9 m/s and the intraparticle diffusion coefficient ranged from 1.3989 × 10−16 to 5.0471 × 10−16 m2/s
Summary
The increased industrial activities have escalated more environmental problems such as the contamination of water sources due to the accumulation of various toxic pollutants from the industrial wastewater. One of the prominent pollutants in the wastewater, has been designated as priority pollutant by the environmental regulations [1]. Its permissible concentration should be less than 0.1 mg/L before it is released into the aquatic environment [1]. Phenol is introduced into the aquatic environment from the wastewater released from various industries such as pesticide, paper and pulp, resin, petrochemicals, fertilizers, and pharmaceutical industries and petroleum refineries [2]. It causes harmful effects on the human health and aquatic life. There is a need to treat phenol from wastewater before it is released into the environment
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