Abstract:
The research study was done to determine biosorption process using cheap and
abundant waste materials; coir pith & Parkia speciosa pods that were grounded prior
to study. Effect of biosorption parameters of each biosorbents; contact time, initial
colour concentration, biosorbent dosage, & pH were also studied and the best
conditions were determined. For the duration of experiment all the other parameters
were fixed at certain values and were changed with the best values afterwards. For
coir pith, the best conditions are 90 minutes of contact time, 15 of mg/L initial colour
concentration, 0.3 g of biosorbent dosage, & pH 11. For Parkia speciosa pods, the
best values were obtained at 240 minutes contact time, 10 mg/L of initial colour
concentration, 1.0 g of biosorbent dosage, & pH 11. Biosorption rate in terms of
percentage of colour removal at the best conditions were higher in coir pith (98.64%)
than Parkia speciosa pods (95.06%) although both materials seemed as suitable
replacements for the current costly adsorbents. This information from this research
could be used to improve the current process in removing Crystal Violet dye from
wastewater which would specifically benefit the dye using parties such as textile
factories and paper making factories in helping to reduce their pollution emission and
help them meet the legislation standards of wastewater handling.
