Adsorption isotherms, kinetics and column operations for the removal of hazardous dye, Tartrazine from aqueous solutions using waste materials—Bottom Ash and De-Oiled Soya, as adsorbents

Adsorbents, Bottom Ash (a power plant waste) and De-Oiled Soya (an agricultural waste) exhibit good efficacy to adsorb a highly toxic dye, Tartrazine. Through the batch technique equilibrium uptake of the dye is observed at different concentrations, pH of the solution, dosage of adsorbents and sieve size of adsorbents. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms are successfully employed on both the adsorbents and on the basis of these models the thermodynamic parameters are evaluated. Kinetic investigations reveal that more than 50% adsorption of dye is achieved in about 1 h in both the cases, whereas, equilibrium establishment takes about 3–4 h. The linear plots obtained in rate constant and mass transfer studies further confirm the applicability of first order rate expression and mass transfer model, respectively. The kinetic data treated to identify rate controlling step of the ongoing adsorption processes indicate that for both the systems, particle diffusion process is predominant at higher concentrations, while film diffusion takes place at lower concentrations. The column studies reveal that about 96% saturation of both the columns is attained during their exhaustion, while about 88 and 84% of the dye material is recovered by eluting dilute NaOH solution through exhausted Bottom Ash and De-Oiled Soya columns, respectively.