Optimization of Cu and Zn Removal from Wastewater Using pre-treated Oil Palm Frond (OPF) by Response Surface Methodology

An increase in the usage of heavy metals in various industrial processes results in increasing heavy metal wastes that need further treatment . To deserver removal from the effluent , Cu and Zn remain hazardous even at low concentration . the potential of oil palm frond (OPF) pre-treated with alkaline wash as a sorbent to remove Cu and Zn from aqueous solution was investigated in this study. 2g of OFB was treated for 300 min in a 250 ml 1.0M NaOH solution to improve its sorption ability. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on Three on Three – Variable Composite Face Centered Design was employed as an experimental design in order to evaluate the effect of initial Zn and Cu concentration (5-100 mg/l) , pH solution (2-9) and biomass loading (0.5-2g) on the sorption process under normal room temperature (25C) The solution pH, initial metal concentration and biomass loading were used as the main process variables , while the sorption performance was based on removal efficiency of two metals. Thecoefficient for determination, R2- for the removal was found to be 0.96 and 0.97 for Cu and Zn respectively . The initial concentration of 89 mg/l, biomass loading of 1.7g and initial pH of 4.5 were been found to be the optimum conditions for the maximum removal of Cu (89.75%) the optimum conditions for highest Zn removal were found to be initial concentration of 76 mg/l, biomass loading of 1.7 and initial pH of 5.5, to reach the Zn removal of 77.3%.

Keywords:

Zinc , Copper , Adsorption , Response Surface Methodology , Low-Cost Adsorbents , Oil Palm Frond