Title: Utilising waste activated sludge from a palm oil mill effluent treatment plant to remove methylene blue in continuous column studies

Authors: K. Gobi; M.D. Mashitah; V.M. Vadivelu

Addresses: School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia ' School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia ' School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

Abstract: The Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) discharged during the aerobic treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) was used to produce a low cost adsorbent for the removal of Methylene Blue (MB) from aqueous solution. This study employed a continuous process in a column packed with WAS as the adsorbent. The adsorption data fits Thomas and Yoon-Nelson model better compared to Adams-Bohart model under various conditions. The highest uptake capacity, qe, was obtained when a 6 cm bed depth was used at an inlet concentration of 100 mg/L and a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min.

Keywords: waste activated sludge; adsorption; palm oil mills; mill effluent; methylene blue; continuous column; effluent treatment; aerobic treatment; low cost adsorbents.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2012.050798

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2012 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.253 - 268

Published online: 31 Dec 2014 *

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