Characterization and Application of Biochar from spent fermentation sludge of coir wastes in removing Malachite green from effluent water

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Central Coir Research Institute, Kalavoor Alleppey, Kerala, India

2 Central Coir Research Institute, Kalavoor Alleppey.

Abstract

Lignin rich solid residues after saccharification during the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic substrates are major concern during past times. These solid residues left after the saccharification of Coir pith and Bit fiber waste are pyrolysed at 350 oC to yield biochar, which has been characterized and its potential for removal of Malachite Green, a dye present in the effluents from coir product manufacturing units are studied. FTIR and XRD spectra revealed the diverse functional groups present on the surface of biochar. SEM images showed the porous structure of the biochar. A maximum dye removal efficiency of 99.5% was achieved using Coir Pith Biochar (1 %) within 24 hours of treatment at a dye concentration of 100 mg/l. The removal efficiency was 99.4 % using Bit Fiber Biochar (0.8 %) in the same treatment period. The efficiency of removal was enhanced on adjusting the pH to 4 at which the dye removal of 99.6 % and 99.7 % was achieved using Bit fiber biochar and Coir pith biochar respectively. The residence time was significantly reduced to 2 and 4 hours respectively for bit fiber and coir pith biochar at pH 4 and hence the produced biochars are cost effective adsorbents for removal of dyeing effluents in wastewater. The adsorption fits into pseudo-second order kinetics and is well described by langmuir isotherm model. This would also facilitate the sustainable use of spent solid substrates left after lignocellulosic ethanol production in a more economical way.

Keywords


Abdel-Fattah, T. M., Mahmoud, M. E., Ahmed, S. B., Huff, M. D., Lee, J. W. and Kumar, S. (2015). Biochar from woody biomass for removing metal contaminants and carbon sequestration. J. Ind.  Eng. Chem. 22,103-109.
Benkhaya, S., Rabet, M. S. and Harfi, El. A. (2020). A review on classifications, recent synthesis and applications of textile dyes. Inorg. Chem. Commun. 115, 107891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inoche.2020.107891.
Claoston, N., Samsuri, A. W., Ahmad, Husni, M. H. and Mohd Amran, M. S. (2014). Effects of pyrolysis temperature on the physicochemical properties of empty fruit bunch and rice husk biochars. Waste. Manag.  Res. 32(4), 331-339.
Costa-Ferreira, M., Soares, G. M. and Maximo, C. (2007). An overview on the use of microbial and enzymatic systems for dye biotransformation. J. Nat. Fibers. 3(4), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1300/J395vn04_06.
Deng, Y., Zhang, T. and Wang, Q. (2017). Biochar adsorption treatment of typical pollutants removal in livestock wastewater: A review. Eng. Appl. Biochar. 71. https://doi.org/10.5775/intechopen.68253.
Ghosh, G.C., Chakraborty, T.K., Zaman, S., Nahar, M.N. and Kabir, A.H.M.E. (2020). Removal of methyl orange dye from aqueous solution by a low-cost activated carbon prepared from mahagoni (Swietenia mahagoni) Bark. Pollution, 6(1), 171-184.
Gopinathan, R., Kanhere, J. and Banerjee, J. (2015). Effect of Malachite Green toxicity on nontarget soil organisms. Chemosphere. 120, 637-644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.09.043.
Jindo, K., Mizumoto, H., Sawada, Y., Sánchez-Monedero, M. Á. and Sonoki, T. (2014). Physical and chemical characterization of biochars derived from different agricultural residues.  Biogeosciences. 11(23), 6613–6621. https://doi:10.5194/bg-11-6613-2014.
Leng, L., Yuan, X., Zengm, G., Shao, J., Chen, X., Wu, Z., Wang, H. and Peng, X. (2015). Surface characterization of rice husk bio-char produced by liquefaction and application for cationic dye (Malachite green) adsorption. Fuel. 155, 77–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2015.04.019.
Liu, Y., Zhao, X., Li, J., Ma, D. and Han, R. (2012).  Characterization of bio-char from pyrolysis of wheat straw and its evaluation on methylene blue adsorption. Desalination. Water. Treat. 46, 115-123. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2012.677408.
Piyushi Nautiyal, K. A., Subramanian. and Dastidar, M.G. (2016). Adsorptive removal of dye using biochar derived from residual algae after in-situ transesterification: Alternate use of waste of biodiesel industry. J. Environ. Manag. 182,187-197.
Purakayastha, T. J., Kumari, S. and Pathak, H. (2015). Characterisation, stability, and microbial effects of four biochars produced from crop residues. Geoderma. 239, 293-303.
Raval, P. N., Shah, U. P. and Shah, N. K. (2017). Malachite Green “a cationic dye” and its removal from aqueous solution by adsorption. Appl. Water. Sci. 7, 3407-3445. https://doi 10.1007/s13201-016-0512-2.
Rutherford, D. W., Wershaw, R. L., Rostad, C. E. and Kelly, C. N. (2012). Effect of formation conditions on biochars: compositional and structural properties of cellulose, lignin, and pine biochars, Biomass Bioenergy. 46, 693–701.
Schönherr, J., Buchheim, J. R., Scholz, P., and Adelhelm, P. (2018). Boehm Titration Revisited (Part I): Practical Aspects for Achieving a High Precision in Quantifying Oxygen-Containing Surface Groups on Carbon Materials. J. Carbon Res.  4, 21. https://doi:10.3390/c4020021.
Srivastava, S., Sinha, R. & Roy, D. (2004). Toxicological effects of Malachite Green. Aquat. Toxicol. 66, 319-329. https://Doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2003.09.008.
Takagi, H., Maruyama, K., Yoshizawa, N., Yamada, Y. and Sato, Y. (2004). XRD analysis of carbon stacking structure in coal during heat treatment. Fuel, 83, 2427-2433.
Tsai, W.T., Liu, S. C., Chen, H. R., Chang, Y. M. and Tsai, Y. L. (2012). Textural and chemical properties of swine-manure-derived biochar pertinent to its potential use as a soil amendment. Chemosphere, 89, 198-203.
Vidhya, L., Dhandapani, M., Shanthi, K., and Kamala-Kannan, S. (2018). Removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution using coir pith biochar- An Ecofriendly approach. Indian. J. Chem. Technol, 25, 266-273.
Zhang, G., Zhang, Q., Sun, K., Liu, X., Zheng, W. and Zhao, Y. (2011) .Sorption of simazine to corn straw biochars prepared at different pyrolytic temperatures. Environ. Pollut. 159, 2594-2601.
Zolfi, Bavariani, M., Ronaghi, A., and Ghasemi, R. (2019). Influence of pyrolysis temperatures on FTIR analysis, nutrient bioavailability, and agricultural use of poultry manure biochars. Commun. Soil. Sci. Plant. Anal. 50, 402-411.