REMOVAL OF METHYLENE BLUE FROM AQUEOUS

SOLUTION BY SEWAGE SLUDGE DERIVED BIOCHAR:

ADSORPTION KINETICS, EQUILIBRIUM AND
THERMODYNAMICS
Contents

 INTRODUCTION
 OBJECTIVES
 PREPARATION OF BIOCHAR
 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION

 At present, wastewater from textile, leather, paper, plastics and other industries
were largely produced, especially methylene blue wastewater which may
pose potential risks to human and animals.
 Unexpected or accidental these industries discharge effluent into the rivers or
lakes and could cause serious pollution.
 The treatment of dyeing wastewater is the focus of considerable water
treatment.
 The conventional used treatment methods of wastewater involve advance
photo-degradation, membrane treatment, biological treatment and adsorption
treatment, among others.
 Due to higher efficiency, lower cost, ease and simplicity of operation and lower
sensitivity to toxic pollutants, adsorption method has been considered superior
to other treatment techniques.
OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to:

 1) Observe the effect of biochar mass, adsorption time and pH on MB adsorption.

 2) Investigate the kinetics and isotherm of MB adsorption on sludge-derived
biochar.
PREPARATION OF BIOCHAR

 Air-dried sludge was obtained from the dewatering stage of a domestic

wastewater treatment plant.
 To prepare biochar, a specified amount of sludge was put into a crucible. The
crucible was put into a stainless steel cylinder.
 The air in the cylinder was removed by nitrogen gas to ensure an oxygen-free
atmosphere.
 The cylinder was put into the furnace and the furnace temperature was
programmed to increase at a rate of 10 °C min−1 until it reached at 550 °C and
kept for 2 h.
 After natural cooling, the yield rate of the sludge-derived biochar was
determined gravimetrically (43.61% ), and pH of biochar was found to be 7.50.
 It was ground and passed through a 100-mesh sieve.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

 Adsorption experiments were conducted in 50 mL centrifuges tubes with same

volume of 20 mL, and MB concentration of 100 mg L−1 for varying solid-to-liquid
ratios.
 Different dosages of biochar were added to achieve liquid-solid ratios
between 2 and 50 g L−1.
 Sub-samples were collected at pre-determined times during the 24 h of
oscillation.
 1mol L−1 HCl or NaOH was added to the MB solution to adjust the pH in the
range of 2–11.
 The samples were placed in an oscillating shaker operated at 180 rpm and
25 °C for 24 h.
 Then, the samples were filtered through a 0.45 μm membrane .
 Removal efficiency (%) = (C0-Ce)/C0 × 100%
 Adsorption amount (mg·g−1) = (C0-Ce) × (V/m)
ADSORPTION KINETICS
 A certain amount of biochar was added to a 500-mL Erlenmeyer flask
containing 250 mL MB solution having an initial concentration of 50 mg L−1,
100 mg L−1 or 150 mg L−1.
 The experiment was conducted at 25 °C, 35 °C and 45 °C.
 Sub-samples were collected at pre-determined times and were determined.
The adsorption amount of MB was calculated by:
 qt = (C0-Ct)/C0 × V/m
ADSORPTION ISOTHERM
 A certain amount of biochar was added to 50-mL centrifuge tubes containing
different concentrations of MB solution (50–500 mg L−1).
 The samples were placed in an oscillating shaker operated at180 rpm and
either 25 °C, 35 °C or 45 °C for a certain time.
 The samples were filtered, measured and the adsorption amount of MB was
calculated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

SEM-EDS of Pure MB, sludge-derived biochar and biochar absorbed MB.

EFFECT OF BIOCHAR DOSAGE AND CONTACT TIME
EFFECT OF PH
ADSORPTION KINETICS

Pseudo first order kinetic model

Pseudo second order kinetic model
Intra particle diffusion model
ADSORPTION ISOTHERM

The Langmuir isotherm

ADSORPTION ISOTHERM

The Freundlich isotherm

ADSORPTION THERMODYNAMICS
CONCLUSION

 The adsorption of MB onto sludge-derived biochar can be accurately

represented using a pseudo-second order kinetics model.
 The Langmuir isotherm model describes the adsorption process well.
 Increasing temperature or increasing initial MB concentration favored the
adsorption process.
 The results of adsorption thermodynamic analysis confirmed that MB
adsorption onto sludge-derived biochar was spontaneous and endothermic.
 With the increase of temperature, the decrease of ΔG values implied that
higher temperature favors MB adsorption.
REFERENCES

 A. Khatri, M.H. Peerzada, M. Mohsin, M. White, A review on developments in

dyeing cotton fabrics with reactive dyes for reducing effluent pollution, J.
Clean. Prod. 87 (2015) 50–57.
 E. Forgacs, T. Cserhati, G. Oros, Removal of synthetic dyes from wastewaters: a
review, Environ. Int. 30 (2004) 953–971.
 M. Rafatullah, O. Sulaiman, R. Hashim, A. Ahmad, Adsorption of methylene blue
on low-cost adsorbents: a review, J. Hazard. Mater. 177 (2010) 70–80.
 T. Robinson, G. McMullan, R. Marchant, P. Nigam, Remediation of dyes in textile
effluent: a critical review on current treatment technologies with a proposed
alternative, Bioresour. Technol. 77 (2001) 247–255.
 M.J. Ahmed, Application of agricultural based activated carbons by
microwave and conventional activations for basic dye adsorption: review, J.
Environ. Chem. Eng. 4 (2016) 89–99.
REFERENCES

 M. Otero, F. Rozada, L. Calvo, A. Garcıa, A. Moran, Kinetic and equilibrium

modelling of the methylene blue removal from solution by adsorbent materials
produced from sewage sludges, Biochem. Eng. J. 15 (2003) 59–68.
 P. Hadi, M. Xu, C. Ning, C.S.K. Lin, G. McKay, A critical review on preparation,
characterization and utilization of sludge-derived activated carbons for
wastewater treatment, Chem. Eng. J. 260 (2015) 895–906.
 X. Cao, L. Ma, B. Gao, W. Harris, Dairy-manure derived biochar effectively
sorbs lead and atrazine, Environ. Sci. Technol. 43 (2009) 3285–3291.
 D. Woolf, J.E. Amonette, F.A. Street-Perrott, J. Lehmann, S. Joseph, Sustainable
biochar to mitigate global climate change, Nat. Commun. 1 (2010) 1–9.
 S.D. Joseph, M. Camps-Arbestain, Y. Lin, P. Munroe, C.H. Chia, J. Hook, L. van
Zwieten, S. Kimber, A. Cowie, B.P. Singh, J. Lehmann, N. Foidl, R.J. Smernik, J.E.
Amonette, An investigation into the reactions of biochar in soil, Aust. J. Soil Res.
REFERENCES

 E. El-Shafey, S.N. Ali, S. Al-Busafi, H.A. Al-Lawati, Preparation and

characterization of surface functionalized activated carbons from date
palm leaflets and application for methylene blue removal, J. Environ.
Chem. Eng. 4 (2016) 2713–2724.
 K. Smith, G. Fowler, S. Pullket, N.J.D. Graham, Sewage sludge-based
adsorbents: a review of their production, properties and use in water
treatment applications, Water Res. 43 (2009) 2569–2594.