Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Coagulation/Flocculation Potential of Polyaluminium Chloride and Bentonite Clay Tested in the Removal of Methyl Red and Crystal Violet

  • Research Article - Chemical Engineering
  • Published:
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of the physico-chemical properties of methyl red (MR) and crystal violet (CV) on their removal by bentonite clay and polyaluminium chloride (PACl). Different dosages of bentonite clay, PACl and a combination of PACl and bentonite clay were applied. Dye concentration, dosage, pH and slow mixing timing were varied to find optimum removal conditions. Due to the high charge and solubility of dyes, dye solutions were pre-treated by increasing the turbidity and adjusting the pH prior to the treatment with PACl. PACl-lab removed MR better than the commercial PACl (PACl-com), and this could be ascribed to the lower basicity of PACl-lab compared to PACl-com. Bentonite clay showed greater affinity to CV, exhibiting an optimum removal of 99.2 % for CV and 98.8 % for MR. The optimum removal efficiency of PACl-lab for CV was 99.4 and 97.0 % for MR. The combination of PACl-lab and bentonite clay had higher removal efficiency than PACl-lab for MR but not for CV. The dyes’ charge, structure and solubility influence how well the dye will be removed with the flocculation/coagulation technique.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mohammed M.A., Shitu A., Ibrahim A.: Removal of methylene blue using low cost adsorbent: a review. Res. J. Chem. Sci. 4(1), 91–102 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Zhang C., Zhu Z., Zhang H., Hu Z.: Rapid decolorization of acid orange II aqueous solution by amorphous zero-valent iron. J. Environ. Sci. 24(6), 1021–1026 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wang Y., Gao B., Yue Q., Wang Y.: Effect of viscosity, basicity and organic content of composite flocculant on the decolourization performance and mechanism for reactive dyeing wastewater. J. Environ. Sci. 23, 1626–1633 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhou W., Shen B., Meng F., Liu S., Zhang Y.: Coagulation enhancement of exopolysaccharide secreted by an Antarctic seaice bacterium on dye wastewater. Sep. Purif. Technol. 76, 215–221 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Zonoozi M.H., Moghaddam M.R.A., Arami M.: Removal of acid red 398 dye from aqueous solution by coagulation/flocculation process. Environ. Eng. Manag. J. 7(6), 695–699 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Fosso-Kankeu E., Mulaba-Bafubiandi A.F.: Challenges in the escalation of metal-biosorbing processes for water treatment: applied and commercialized technologies. Afr. J. Biotechnol. 13(17), 1756–1771 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Fosso-Kankeu, E.; Mulaba-Bafubiandi, A.F.; Mishra, A.K.: Prospects in the immobilization of microbial sorbents on carbon nanotubes for biosorption: Bioremediation of heavy metals polluted water. In: Mishra, A.K.(ed.) Application of Nanotechnology in Water Research. Wiley, New York. ISBN: 978-1-118-49630-5

  8. Karthik V., Saravanan K., Bharathi P., Dharanya V., Meiaraj C.: An overview of treatments for the removal of textile dyes. J. Chem. Pharm. Sci. 7(4), 1215–1220 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Muthuraman G., Teng T.T.: Extraction of MR from industrial wastewater using xylene as an extractant. Prog. Nat. Sci. 19, 1215–1220 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gupta A.K., Pal A., Sahoo C.: Photocatalytic degradation of a mixture of CV (Basic Violet 3) and MR dye in aqueous suspension using Ag doped TiO2. Dyes Pigments 69, 224–232 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Buthelezi S.P., Olaniran A.O., Pillay B.: Textile dye removal from wastewater effluents using bioflocculants produced by indigenous bacterial isolates. Molecules 17, 14260–14274 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Nidheesh, P.V.; Gandhimathi, R.; Ramesh, S.T.; Singh, T.S.A.: Adsorption and desorption characteristics of CV in bottom ash column. J. Urban Environ. Eng. 12(1), 18–29 (2012)

  13. Fosso-Kankeu E., Mittal H., Mishra S.B., Mishra A.K.: Gum ghatti and acrylic acid based biodegradable hydrogels for the effective adsorption of cationic dyes. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 22, 171–178 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Fosso-Kankeu, E.; Mittal, H.; Waanders, F.; Ntwampe, I.O.; Ray, S.S.: Preparation and characterization of gum karaya hydrogel nanocomposite flocculant for metal ions removal from mine effluents. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 13, 711–724 (2016)

  15. Dilek F.B., Bese S.: Treatment of pulping effluents by using alum and clay—colour removal and sludge characteristics. Water SA 27(3), 361–366 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhongguo Z., Dan L., Dandan H., Duo L., Xiaojing R., Yanjun C., Zhaokun L.: Effects of slow-mixing on the coagulation performance of polyaluminum chloride (PACI). Chin. J. Chem. Eng. 21(3), 318–323 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Syafalni, Abdullah, R.; Abustan, I.; Ibrahim, A.N.M.: Waste water treatment using bentonite, the combination of bentonite-zeolite, bentonite-alum, and bentonite-limestone as adsorbent and coagulant. Int. J. Environ. Sci. 4(3), 379–391 (2013)

  18. Oladipo A.A., Gazi M.: Enhanced removal of CV by low cost alginate/acid activated bentonite composite beads, Optimization and modeling using non-linear regression technique. J. Water Process Eng. 2, 43–52 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Sahu O.P., Chaudhari P.K.: Review on chemical treatment of industrial waste water. J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manag. 16(2), 241–257 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Zouboulis A.I., Tzoupanos N.: Alternative cost-effective preparation method of polyaluminium chloride (PAC) coagulant agent: Characterization and comparative application for water/wastewater treatment. Desalination 250, 339–344 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Pernitsky, D.J.: 2001. Drinking water coagulation with polyaluminum coagulants: mechanisms and selection guidelines. Doctoral Dissertations [Online], University of Massachusetts-Amherst. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3027241. Accessed 5 Nov 2015

  22. Zonoozi M.H., Moghaddam M.R.A., Arami M.: Coagulation flocculation of dye-containing solutions using polyaluminium chloride and alum. Water Sci. Technol. 59, 1343–1351 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Metcalf W., Eddy C.: Wastewater Engineering. McGraw-Hill Inc, New York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Klimiuk E., Filipkowska U., Korzeniowska A.: Effects of pH and Coagulant Dosage on Effectiveness of Coagulation of Reactive Dyes from Model Wastewater by Polyaluminium Chloride (PAC). Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 8(2), 73–79 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Irfan, M.; Butt, T.; Imtiaz, N.; Abbas, N.; Khan, R. A.; Shafique, A., 2013. The removal of COD, TSS and colour of black liquor by coagulation–flocculation process at optimized pH, settling and dosing rate. Arab. J. Chem. doi:10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.08.007 (2013)

  26. Petzold G., Schwarz S.: Dye removal from solutions and sludges by using polyelectrolytes and polyelectrolyte–surfactant complexes. Sep. Purif. Technol. 51, 318–324 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Swartz, C.D.; Ralo, T.: Guideline for planning and design of small water treatment plants for rural communities with specific emphasis on sustainability and community involvement and participation. Silowa Printer, SA (2009)

  28. Karapinar N., Donat R.: Adsorption behavior of Cu2+ and Cd2+ onto natural bentonite. Desalination 249, 123–129 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Koo, E.; Lee, A.; Paryse, C.; McMongle, J.: The dependence of methyl red molar extinction coefficient on the pH (2000). http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~belab/LabProjects/2000/be210s00w4.html/. Accessed 17 Aug 2015

  30. Stuart, B.: Infrared spectroscopy: fundamental and applications. In: Ando, D.J. (ed.) Analytical Techniques in the Sciences. Wiley, New York (2004)

  31. Shen Z., Wang W., Jia J., Ye J., Feng X., Peng A.: Degradation of dye solution by an activated carbon fiber electrode electrolysis system. J. Hazard. Mater. 84, 107–116 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, School of Chemical and Minerals Engineering, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Potchefstroom, North West Province, South Africa

    E. Fosso-Kankeu, A. Webster, I. O. Ntwampe & F. B. Waanders

Authors
  1. E. Fosso-Kankeu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Webster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. O. Ntwampe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. F. B. Waanders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Fosso-Kankeu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fosso-Kankeu, E., Webster, A., Ntwampe, I.O. et al. Coagulation/Flocculation Potential of Polyaluminium Chloride and Bentonite Clay Tested in the Removal of Methyl Red and Crystal Violet. Arab J Sci Eng 42, 1389–1397 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-016-2244-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-016-2244-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation