Optimization of Nickel (II) and Chromium (III) Removal from Contaminated Water using Sorghum Bicolor

Abstract

A central composite design (CCD) under the response surface methodology (RSM)was used to study the effect of three adsorption variables (pH, initial concentration, and adsorbent dosage) in order to determine the optimum process conditions for the adsorptions of Ni (II) and Cr (III) onto sulphuric acid modified sorghum bicolor activated carbon (SBAC).This study yielded removal efficiency of 98.89 % for Ni (II) and 94.27 % for Cr (III) ion under optimal conditions of pH (8), initial metal ion concentration (25 mg/L), adsorbent dosage (10 mg) and pH (7), initial metal ion concentration (5 mg/L), dosage (15 mg);respectively. Statistical analysis of variance results showed a good correlation existed between the experimental and predicted data with R2 values of 0.99 for Ni and 0.98 for Cr. The equilibrium data for Ni (II) adsorption was best described using Freundlich model while Langmuir model best fit Cr (III) adsorption. The mechanism of adsorption for both Ni and Cr adsorptions on SBAC followed Pseudo second order kinetic model