Multicomponent adsorption study of metal ions onto bagasse fly ash using Taguchi's design of experimental methodology

This paper utilizes the Taguchi optimization methodology (L-27 orthogonal array) to optimize various parameters for the simultaneous removal of Cd, Ni, and Zn metal ions from aqueous solutions using bagasse fly ash (BFA) as an adsorbent. The effect of such parameters as the initial metal concentrations (C-0,C-i), temperature, initial pH, adsorbent dosage (m), and contact time on the adsorption of the aforementioned metal ions has been studied at three levels to determine their effect on the selected response characteristic (the total amount of metal adsorbed on BFA, in terms of mg/g of BFA (q(tot))). The Pareto analysis of variance shows that m is the most significant parameter, with a 53.14% and 31.25% contribution to the qtot and signal- to- noise (S/N) ratio data. The contribution of interactions between the C-0,C-i values is also significant. Confirmation experiments have been performed to prove the effectiveness of the Taguchi technique after the optimum levels of process parameters are determined.