REMOVAL OF SELECTED TRACE METALS FROM WASTE WATER USING SOURSOP (ANNONA MURICATA L.) SEED

Abstract

The effective removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater is among the most important issues for many industrialized countries. Removal of lead (II), nickel (Ni) and copper (II) from aqueous solutions were studied using adsorbent prepared from soursop (annonamuricata l. Seed. The surface groups present on the adsorbrnt surface were determined by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Batch adsorption experiments were performed as a function of pH, contact time, initial concentration, temperature and adsorbent dose. The optimum pH required for maximum adsorption was found to be 6,6 and 5 for lead (II), nickel (Ni) and copper (II) respectively. The maximum contact time for the equilibrium condition is 90 min at the sorbent dose rate of 0.16 g. The maximum efficiencies of lead, Nickel and copper removal by adsorbent were 92%, 93 % and 94 %, respectively. Thermodynamic investigation stated endothermic and spontaneous nature of the system with the participation of a chemical adsorption process. Equilibrium data were represented better by the Freundlich model than the Langmuir model by which describes multilayer adsorptions. The linear regression analysis of kinetic data confirmed that pseudo-second order rate expression.