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- ISSN: 2333-2581
- Modern Environmental Science and Engineering
Removal of Dyes from Textile Industry Wastewater Using Activated Carbon Prepared from Maize Cobs: A Case Study of Kadoma Textiles Industry, Zimbabwe
1. Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe
2. Prone Cane Investments t/a Envirotech, Zimbabwe
3. Midlands State University, Zimbabwe
4. Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
5. University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Abstract: Water pollution is one of the fast rising global issues in need of immediate cooperation. Research has shown that textile industries have became major sources of pollution due to the dyes in their effluents which are resistant to the current treatment methods and biodegradation with their traces visibly observed in water sources and cumulative effects experienced worldwide. Adsorption method has been seen as a more effective and cheaper treatment method for dyes in wastewater especially using low cost adsorbents. In this study maize cobs were used due to their abundant availability in Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Spinners and weavers Kadoma Textiles was used as a case study for the research and source of textile effluent. The main aim of the study was to remove dyes from industrial wastewater using maize cob activated carbon prepared by different methods. Proximate analysis and effluent characterization were carried out on the raw maize cobs and effluent respectively. Treatment with either thermal activation, Acid (HCl) activation or salt (ZnCl2) activation to analyze the yielding capacity of the different activated carbon preparation methods. Continuous flow Adsorption filtration using column filters was used for the dye removal process. The results showed that maize cob activated carbon prepared by HCl activation had the greatest yield and greatest removal efficiency evidenced by around 80% decolorization followed by thermal activated AC with around 76% removal and ZnCl2 activated AC with around 65% removal efficiency. TDS, pH and conductivity were also decreased significantly from the effluent.
Key words: activated carbon (AC), textile effluent, dye, adsorption
