Fixed-bed column studies on biosorption of crystal violet from aqueous solution by Citrullus lanatus rind and Cyperus rotundus

In this study, fixed-bed column experiments were performed to investigate the biosorption potential of two agricultural wastes, Citrullus lanatus rind and Cyperus rotundus to remove Crystal violet (CV) from aqueous solution. The experiments were conducted to study the effects of important parameters such as bed depth (10-30 cm), flow rate (10-20 mL min(-1)) and initial dye concentration (10-25 mg L-1). Different models like Bed Depth Service Time (BDST) model, Thomas model and Yoon-Nelson model were applied to the experimental sorption data. In the biosorption of Crystal violet by both the sorbents, the BDST model fitted well with the experimental data in the initial region of the breakthrough curve. Also, Yoon-Nelson model was found to show good agreement with the experimental kinetic results as compared to the Thomas model. The sorbents were found to be very potential, as it showed good sorption capacities of 46.68 and 54.24 mg g(-1) for CV biosorption by Citrullus lanatus rind and Cyperus rotundus. Recovery of dye was made by eluting 1 N CH3COOH through the exhausted column in downward direction.