Alginate/ Polyvinyl Alcohol - Kaolin Composite for Removal of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solution in a Batch Stirred Tank Reactor

Abstract

The investigation of possible use of Alginate/ polyvinyl alcohol -kaolin composite instead of free kaolin in the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions was studied. Various experiments have been carried out using batch adsorption technique to study the effects of the process variables, which include contact time, beads diameter, beads swelling, organic-kaolin composite dosage, initial dye concentration, pH, agitation speed and solution temperature on the adsorption process. In the batch kinetic study of methylene blue, the order of the reaction, the half-life and the rate constant were determined. Numerical correlations using regression analysis for maximum percentage removal of dye with operating condition of the process were presented. The result showed that the adsorption attained to equilibrium in 360 min and the kinetics followed first order in nature. (Journal of American Science 2010; 6(5):280-292). (ISSN: 1545-1003).