Fixed-bed column study for removal of phenol by neem leaves-Experiment, MLR and ANN analysis

This research aims to carry out the column study to remove toxic phenol by natural adsorbent neem leaves (Azadirachta indica). The adsorbent was characterized through SEM, XRD, FTIR, and BET. The phenol removal was performed in the fixed-bed column at optimum pH 3 and room temperature with the change of process variables, i.e., bed height (8.5-13.5 cm), flow rate (10-30 ml/min), and phenol content (100-300 mg/L). These experiments revealed that the breakthroughs of phenol occurred faster for lesser bed height, higher flow rate, and higher phenol content. The Yen et al. model is the best fitted kinetic model and is applicable for scale-up design. The DFT shows that the interaction between different components of the adsorbent and phenol. The artificial neural networks (ANN) modeling using a single hidden layered neural network is successful with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. Desorption of phenol and safe disposal from the used adsorbents were reported.