Removal of Lignin from Wastewater Generated by Mechanical Pulping Using Activated Charcoal and Fly Ash: Adsorption Isotherms and Thermodynamics

Lignin-related material found in wastewater from thermomechanical pulping resists conventional biological treatment, entailing the use of advanced removal methods. In this work, the use of adsorption for removing lignin-related material was investigated. Activated charcoal and fly ash were used to study the adsorption behavior of lignin and to determine the adsorption capacities of these two adsorbents. Experimental data were fitted to various isotherm equations to find the best description of the sorption systems, and the corresponding thermodynamic parameters were calculated. Fly ash exhibited good sorption properties, although its sorption capacity was inferior to that of activated charcoal. Both the Freundlich and Langmuir equations provided reasonable models of the sorption processes, and the thermodynamic parameters indicated that sorption onto activated charcoal is endothermic, whereas sorption onto fly ash appears to be exothermic. Fly ash is a low-cost material that is often available on-site and offers an interesting alternative to high-cost advanced wastewater treatment systems for removing recalcitrant organic materials.