Biosorption of Cr(VI) from plating effluent using marine algal mass

Abstract

Biosorption of heavy metals is emerging as an effective technology for the treatment of industrial wastewater. In this study, biosorption potential of Padina boergesenli–a brown marine alga was assessed in the removal of Cr(VI) from electroplating effluent. Batch experiments were conducted to determine the adsorption properties of the P. boergesenli and it was observed that the biosorption capacity strongly depends on pH. The maximum removal of Cr(VI) was around 49 mg/g of dry weight of biomass at pH 1.0 in 180 min with 100 mg/L of initial concentration. The experimental results were fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the Freundlich isotherm was found to well represent the measured sorption data implying P. boergesenli has heterogeneous surface. The kinetic study showed that the biosorption of Cr(VI) by P. boergesenli follows second order. The ability of P. boergesenli to biosorb Cr(VI) in a packed column was investigated, as well. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of important design parameters such as bed height and flow rate. The biosorption decreased as the flow rate increased. The bed depth service time model was used to analyze the experimental data.