Methylene Blue Removal from Simulated Wastewater by Adsorption Using Treated Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

Abstract

Many industries in Malaysia such as textile, paper, high-technology, paint, pharmaceuticals, food, leather, cosmetics, tannery, printing and plastics, use varies dye in order to color their product like batik and also consume substantial volumes of water. Among varies industries, textiles industry ranks first in usage of dyes for coloration of fiber. As a result, they generate a considerable amount of colored wastewater. The effectiveness of the adsorption for dye removal from wastewater has made it an ideal alternative to other expensive treatment methods. This study investigated the potential use of sugarcane bagasse, pretreated with formaldehyde and sulphuric acid for the removal of methylene blue dyes from simulated wastewater. The effect of the initial dye concentration was investigated. For the powdered activated carbon (PAC), the percentage of intake almost 100% for all initial dyes concentration. On the other hand, for formaldehyde treated empty fruit bunch (PCEFB), the highest percentage of removal (96.4%) was obtained for 50 mg/L of initial dyes concentration and 50.5% for initial dyes concentrations of 250 mg/L. For the sulphuric acid treated empty fruit bunch (PCEFB), the highest and the lowest percentages of dyes removal are 98.2% and 74.5%, respectively. The study shows that higher adsorption percentages were observed at lower concentrations of methylene blue and the result is compared with the commercially available activated carbon. From this study, we can conclude that sulphuric acid or formaldehyde treated empty fruit bunch can be attractive option for dye removal from dilute industrial effluent.