Adsorption of dyes using activated carbon derived from pyrolysis of vetiveria zizanioides in a fixed bed reactor

This study aims to investigate the adsorptive characteristics of activated carbon derived from pyrolysis of vetiveria zizanioides in a fixed bed reactor using sulphuric acid activation for the effective removal of dyes from aqueous solution. Effect of major process variables such as pyrolysis temperature and sweep gas (N-2) flow rate was evaluated for the cost effective production of activated carbon. Physicochemical and conformational changes in synthesized activated carbon (SAC) were characterized using Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X- Ray Diffraction (XRD), FE-SEM (Field Emission Surface Electron Microscopy), BET surface area and Elemental composition was characterized using proximate and ultimate analysis. Further batch adsorption experiments were conducted to analyze sorption behaviour of dye and bio-adsorbent (SAC) system at different solution pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, initial concentration of dyes and solution temperature. Results revealed that maximum removal efficiency of Methylene blue and Congo red was found to be 59.91% and 44.77% respectively in a contact time of 60 min and bio-adsorbent dose of 2 g at 30 degrees C. Findings obtained from this study concludes that production of activated carbon derived from pyrolysis of Vetiveria Zizanioides could be employed as alternative for the removal of textile dyes from effluents.