Decolourization of aqueous dye solutions by a novel adsorbent: Application of statistical designs and surface plots for the optimization and regression analysis

Adsorption of Neolan Blue 2G (Acid Blue 158) and Basic Methylene Blue (Basic Blue 9) was investigated using a hybrid adsorbent that was prepared by pyrolysing a mixture of carbon and flyash at 1:1 ratio. A 24 full factorial central composite design with nine replicates at the center point and thus a total of 31 experiments were successfully employed for batch experimental design and analysis of the results. The combined effect of pH, temperature, particle size and time on the dye adsorption was studied. An empirical model was developed and validated applying ANOVA analysis incorporating interaction effects of all parameters and optimized using response surface methodology. The optimum pH, temperature, particle size and time were found to be 2.20, 27.85 °C, 0.0565 mm, 245 min, respectively, for Acid Blue 158 and those for Basic Blue 9 were 13.40, 28.45 °C, 0.0555 mm and 230 min, respectively. Complete removal (100%) was observed for both the dyes using the hybrid adsorbent.