Evaluation of a newly developed biosorbent using packed bed column for possible application in the treatment of industrial effluents for removal of cadmium ions

• Continuous removal of cadmium was achieved by immobilized Bacillus subtilis beads.
• Breakthrough curves parameters were evaluated using the experimental data.
• The highest uptake capacity of 104.2 mg/g was achieved.
• Cyclic use by immobilized Bacillus subtilis beads was found to be effective.
• The removal behavior was successfully modeled using Artificial Neural Network.

Removal of cadmium ions was investigated using a newly developed biosorbent namely immobilized Bacillus subtilis beads in continuous flow packed bed column. In the bench scale reactor three packed bed columns with variable diameter and bed depth, were used. The effect of flow rate and initial metal ion concentration was also investigated. The experimental data was analyzed and model parameters were evaluated. Highest uptake capacity of 104.2 mg/g was obtained for cadmium ion influent concentration of 30.04 mg/L, column bed depth of 50 cm, flow rate of 5 ml/min and column internal diameter of 2.4 cm. Cyclic use of the biosorbent was also investigated and results demonstrated its suitability for industrial use. The value of the determination coefficient of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for prediction of breakthrough curves was found to be 0.99. It exhibited excellent capability of ANN model for predicting breakthrough curves and model coefficients. The estimated cost of treatment, using new biosorbent, was found to be $ 1.92 per cubic meter of wastewater.

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