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Assessment of hydrothermally modified fly ash for the treatment of methylene blue dye in the textile industry wastewater

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Abstract

Dyes and pigments are one of the major water pollutants and if not discharged properly cause ecological disturbance. Considering this, the current study investigates the application of thermal power plant by-product, i.e., fly ash for the elimination of a hazardous methylene blue dye from its synthetic aqueous solution. Experiments were conducted in batch mode to study the effect of pH, temperature, adsorbent dose and contact time. Highest dye removal (94.3%) was achieved at pH 10 using adsorbent dose of 10 g/L in 90 min of contact time at 40 °C. However, for cost-effective operation at neutral pH and room temperature (30 °C), it yields 89.3% dye removal having similar dose and contact time. Equilibrium isotherms for adsorption were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm equations. The results revealed that the best fit model of adsorption closely followed Langmuir adsorption. Based on adsorption isotherm models, thermodynamics parameters ΔG, ΔH and ΔS were calculated. The negative value of ΔG and ΔH revealed that adsorption process was exothermic, spontaneous and physical. The present work suggests that through simple process hydrothermally modified fly ash has the potential to be used as cost-effective and efficient adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater from textile industries.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the DSTPURSE grant and Department of Health Research (DHR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, for providing the Fellowship Training Programme in Environmental Health under Human Resource Development Health Research Scheme. The author is also thankful to CIL laboratory, Panjab University Chandigarh for their help in instrumentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Suman Mor & Manchanda K. Chhavi

  2. Centre for Public Health, Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, 160025, India

    Suman Mor

  3. Dr. S.S. Bhatanagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Kansal K. Sushil

  4. School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, 160012, India

    Khaiwal Ravindra

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  1. Suman Mor
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Mor, S., Chhavi, M.K., Sushil, K.K. et al. Assessment of hydrothermally modified fly ash for the treatment of methylene blue dye in the textile industry wastewater. Environ Dev Sustain 20, 625–639 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9902-8

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