STUDY ON THE EFFICACY OF THE SARGASSUM WIGHTII BIOCHAR ON THE REMEDIATION OF PARTIALLY TREATED TANNERY EFFLUENT OF RANIPET INDUSTRIAL AREA, INDIA

Abstract

The current research investigated the ability of biochar of the marine macroalgae Sargassum wightii in the removal of Cr(VI) and the depletion of various physicochemical parameters including BOD, COD, TDS, TSS, TS, TH, turbidity, and electrical conductivity from the partially treated tannery effluents. The production of biochar was carried out at 300-600°C using a pyrolysis process and the highest carbon content was achieved at 600°C. The batch studies were conducted using algal biochar on the adsorption process at 30°C to examine the effects of pH, adsorbent dose, residence time, initial metal ion concentration, and desorption process. The maximum adsorption for the adsorbent was observed at pH 7, dosage of 6 gm/L, residence time of 6 hours, and initial metal concentration at 50 mg/L. The adsorption isotherms such as Langmuir and Freundlich models were employed and a better fit was observed in Freundlich with a high correlation. The pseudo-second-order kinetics was suitable (R>0.99) rather than pseudo-first-order kinetics. Based on the results, it is proved that the biochar with high carbon content was an excellent biosorbent in the remediation of tannery effluent.