The removal of Acid Red 274 from wastewater: Combined biosorption and biocoagulation with Spirogyra rhizopus

In this study, the removal of Acid Red 274 dye by Spirogyra rhizopus, a green algae, was studied in a batch mode as a function of the initial pH, temperature, initial dye and algae concentrations. The optimum removal conditions were determined as initial pH 3.0, temperature 30 °C and algae concentration 0.5 g L−1. The dye removal amounts increased linearly with increasing initial AR 274 concentrations and the removal equation at optimum temperature and initial pH value was obtained to be q30 = 0.9724 × C0 (R2 = 0.9996). The linear isotherm model was applied to experimental data and was correlated with a linear equation qeq = 18.194 × Ceq (R2 = 0.9928) at 30 °C and initial pH 3.0. The removal amounts decreased while the removed concentrations of AR 274 dye increased with increasing S. rhizopus concentration. High AR 274 removal amounts were obtained as a result of the combined biosorption and biocoagulation.