A novel method to identify optimized parametric values for adsorption of heavy metals from waste water

In the present study, a strategy to obtain the optimum parameters for the removal of metal ions from wastewater is developed. A generalized model is proposed which can be used to represent the dependence of the dependent parameter on the independent parameters. Here, the experimental data from various studies available in the literature are utilized for the development of the model. The experimental data are normalized on the basis of their maximum value considered among all the experiments in the study. The normalized data are further non-linearly regressed to a fourth-order polynomial using Microsoft Excel 2007 to obtain the model equation. The model equation is developed indicating the dependence of dependent parameter (adsorption capacity) on the independent parameters (initial metal concentration, pH, contact time and adsorbent dosage). The proposed generalized equation is validated using various experimental results from the literature and the parameters of the model equation are being estimated. The modeled equation is later being optimized by applying a specific optimization technique (differential evolution). A code of differential evolution is being developed using the platform of MATLAB 7 for the optimization of the models.