Development of an Operationally Efficient and Cost-Effective System for Removal of Dye from Wastewater Using Novel Adsorbent

An important contributor to environmental degradation is the industrial revolution, which has occurred in developed and developing nations. The present investigation aimed to tackle the escalating apprehensions regarding the discharge of various types of dyes from the paint, textile, and dyeing sectors. This research focuses on the adsorption performance of a newly developed system that uses cotton pod shell powder (CPSP) as a novel adsorbent to remove dye industry wastewater. The system has been designed, manufactured, and tested to be operationally efficient and cost-effective. The CPSP is a new adsorbent with desirable properties such as favorable functional groups and porosity, and analysis of its functional groups and porous nature was carried out using FTIR and SEM. The experimental data from the developed system showed that inlet dye concentration (50, 100, and 150 ppm), bed height (10, 20, and 30 cm), and flow rate (10, 15, and 20 mL/min) significantly affect the adsorption of dye industry wastewater by CPSP. Breakthrough curves were shown to be flow rate and bed depth dependent, according to the data. Significant experimentation was conducted on the developed system, and under optimized conditions. It was shown that the breakthrough point was affected by both bed height and flow rate. Evidence suggested that decreasing flow rate and concentration and raising bed height led to improved breakthrough and exhaustion times. At a concentration of 100 ppm and a flow rate of 15 mL/min, a bed depth of 20 cm was found to have the highest absorption capacity. Adam-Bohart, bed depth service time, and Yoon-Nelson models were utilized to examine the adsorption data. The results revealed that the developed system is effective, and the data obtained in this work can provide optimum operating conditions, suggesting its scalability to an industrial level for dye removal from wastewater by adsorption using CPSP as a novel adsorbent.