Removal of phenol from wastewater using Luffa cylindrica fibers in a packed bed column: Optimization, isotherm and kinetic studies

Samuel Ogunniyi; Ebuka Chizitere Emenike; Kingsley O Iwuozor; Joshua O Ighalo; Abdelrahman O Ezzat; Tunmise Latifat Adewoye; Abel Egbemhenghe; Hussein K Okoro; Adewale George Adeniyi

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26443

Removal of phenol from wastewater using Luffa cylindrica fibers in a packed bed column: Optimization, isotherm and kinetic studies

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 17;10(4):e26443. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26443. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Ilorin, P. M. B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria.
² Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P. M. B. 5025, Awka, Nigeria.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P. M. B. 5025, Awka, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Art and Science, Texas Tech University, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁸ Environmental-Analytical Research Group, Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Ilorin, P. M. B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria.
⁹ Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Landmark University, Omu-aran, Nigeria.

Abstract

This research entails a comparison of the effectiveness of unmodified Luffa cylindrica fiber in a fully packed bed (RLCF) and NaOH-modified Luffa cylindrica fiber in another fully packed bed (MLCF) in the context of phenol removal from wastewater. Experimental data obtained through batch adsorption experiments were utilized to determine the most suitable model. It was observed that as the initial concentration of phenol increased from 100 to 500 mg/l, the maximum percentage removal increased from 63.5 to 83.1% for RLCF-PB and from 89.9 to 99.5% for MLCF-PB. The correlation coefficient (R²) was calculated for the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Harkin-Jura, Halsey, and Flory-Huggins models for both materials. The analysis revealed that the pseudo-second-order model was the most suitable, followed by the Elovich model, with the pseudo-first-order model being the least suitable. The Weber-Morris diffusion model suggested that pore diffusion was the rate-determining step, and diffusion at the border layer was determined to be endothermic, feasible, heterogeneous, and spontaneous. In summary, this study indicates that MLCF-PB is a promising material for the efficient removal of phenol from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: Equilibrium modeling; Luffa cylindrica fiber; Packed bed; Phenol adsorption.