EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES FOR MALACHITE GREEN- DYE REMOVAL USING MODIFIED DATE PITS

Abstract

The history of adsorption science is long as its first daily and medicinal uses were noted in ancient times. The science of adsorption has evolved from using raw material in early times to using activated carbons in modern day activities. Dyes are widely used in many industries and they can be toxic to humans and the environment. However, physical, chemical, and biological treatments are available to neutralize these hazardous effects of dyes. Several studies were made on biomass activated carbons. In this study, date biomass was treated and activated physically and chemically to study its adsorption of malachite green dye. Phosphoric acid was used as an activating agent for the date stones and its adsorption capability were compared to natural date stone, thermally treated date stone, and microwave activated date stone. Raw equilibrium data have been analyzed and validated. Also, a comprehensive study for a total of seven isotherms and nine error methods was made to determine the best isotherm fit for the four different types of date stones. Results validation was done through Akaike Information Criteria, error correlation, and error normalization methods. The isotherms were divided into two-parameter and three-parameter isotherms. The best fit for the provided data was found to be the Langmuir model for natural and thermally treated date stones; Koble-Corrigan and Redlich Peterson isotherms provided the best fit for the chemically and microwave activated date stones, respectively. However, exponents in both isotherms tended towards unity which implies a behavior similar to that described by Langmuir.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Science and Engineering