Utilising waste activated sludge from a palm oil mill effluent treatment plant to remove methylene blue in continuous column studies

Abstract

The Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) discharged during the aerobic treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) was used to produce a low cost adsorbent for the removal of Methylene Blue (MB) from aqueous solution. This study employed a continuous process in a column packed with WAS as the adsorbent. The adsorption data fits Thomas and Yoon-Nelson model better compared to Adam’s-Bohart model under various conditions. The highest uptake capacity, qe, was obtained when a 6 cm bed depth was used at an inlet concentration of 100 mg/L and a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min.