Fixed-bed adsorption of reactive azo dye onto granular activated carbon prepared from waste

In this work, the adsorption potential of bamboo waste based granular activated carbon (BGAC) to remove C.I. Reactive Black (RB5) from aqueous solution was investigated using fixed-bed adsorption column. The effects of inlet RB5 concentration (50-200 mg/L), feed flow rate (10-30 mL/min) and activated carbon bed height (40-80mm) on the breakthrough characteristics of the adsorption system were determined. The highest bed capacity of 39.02 mg/g was obtained using 100 mg/L inlet dye concentration, 80 mm bed height and 10 mL/min flow rate. The adsorption data were fitted to three well-established fixed-bed adsorption models namely, Adam's-Bohart, Thomas and Yoon-Nelson models. The results fitted well to the Thomas and Yoon-Nelson models with coefficients of correlation R-2 >= 0.93 at different conditions. The BGAC was shown to be suitable adsorbent for adsorption of RB5 using fixed-bed adsorption column. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.