Yam Peels as Adsorbent for the Removal of Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn) in Waste Water

Abstract

This paper investigated the use of yam peel as a natural adsorbent for the removal of Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn) from waste water. The yam peels were thoroughly washed with distilled water, dried, pulverized and carbonized. The carbonized yam peel was then characterized for its particle sizes, moisture content, ash content, volatile matter, Methylene Blue number, Iodine number. The raw yam peels were prepared using the same procedure, but was not carbonized. The adsorption of Mn(II) and Cu(II) ions were investigated using adsorption experiment at room temperature. The effect of contact time, metal ion concentration and dosage were evaluated. The residual concentrations of the metal ions were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Experimental data obtained were analyzed using Kinetic models and Isotherms such as Pseudo- First order kinetic models, Pseudo-second order kinetic models, Langmuir isotherms and Freundlich isotherm. The analysis showed that the pseudo-second order kinetic model best described the adsorption of the metal ions; ( Cu; r2 = 0.991 for RYP and r2 = 0.834 for AYP) and (Mn; r2 = 0.958 for RYP and r2 = 0.896 for AYP) and the experimental data best fit the Freundlich model; (Cu; r2 = 0.564 for RYP and r2 = 0.871 for AYP) and (Mn; r2 = 0.685 for RYP and r2 = 0.736 for AYP). Finally, optimum removal efficiencies of 30.54% for Mn(II) and 39.62% for Cu(II) were obtained for AYP at concentrations of 50mg/l and mass dosage of 1.0g, 120 minutes contact time and a pH of 6.8.