Removal of disperse orange and disperse blue dyes present in textile mill effluent using zeolite synthesized from cenospheres

In the present research, an efficient, eco-friendly method of utilization of coal fly ash in the form of zeolite, to treat wastewater containing dyes has been studied. Response surface methodology involving Box-Behnken design was applied for a batch process to evaluate the effect of process parameters like contact time, dye concentration, agitation speed, pH and adsorbent dosage onto zeolite. Disperse Orange 25 (DO) dye showed maximum 96% removal under optimal conditions of contact time (119 min), dye concentration (38.00 mg/L), agitation speed (158 rpm), pH (6.10) and adsorbent dosage (0.67 g/L), whereas 95.23% of Disperse Blue 79:1 (DB) dye removal was observed at adsorbent dose (1.05 g/L), dye concentration (26.72 mg/L), agitation speed (145 rpm), pH (5.68) and contact time (122 min). Study concluded that cenospheres derivatized zeolite adsorbent is efficient, eco-friendly and economical along with high potential for removal of DO and DB dyes from the aqueous solutions.

Automated summary

The research investigated an efficient and eco-friendly method of using coal fly ash in the form of zeolite to treat wastewater with dyes. Response surface methodology was employed to evaluate the effect of process parameters on the removal of dyes, and optimal conditions were identified for maximum removal of Disperse Orange 25 and Disperse Blue 79:1. The study concluded that cenospheres derivatized zeolite adsorbent is efficient, environmentally friendly, cost-effective and shows high potential for removing DO and DB dyes from aqueous solutions.