Journal of Multidisciplinary Applied Natural Science
##plugins.themes.gdThemes.journalSlogan##
Scopus CiteScore 2024
4.8
Calculated on 05 May, 2025
SJR 2024
0.31
Powered by scimagojr.com
##plugins.themes.gdThemes.journalSlogan##
4.8
Calculated on 05 May, 2025
0.31
Powered by scimagojr.com
https://doi.org/10.47352/jmans.2774-3047.144
Enebi Estella Jasper
Jude Chinedu Onwuka
Edith Bolanle Agbaji
Activated carbon is widely used as an adsorbent to remove numerous pollutants from water and wastewater. The cost-effectiveness of an adsorbent depends upon its ability to be reused. This study focuses on regenerating Millettia thonningii seed pods' activated carbon (MAC) saturated with Methylene Blue (MB) using acetic acid as a regenerating solvent and exploring its potential to be reused. The effects of the variables such as, the concentration of the regenerating solvent, contact time, and volume of regenerating solvent on the regeneration process were ascertained using the Box-Behnken experimental design, which is a sub-set of Response Surface Methodology. The regeneration process was evaluated based on the desorption capacity of the active carbon. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to characterize the surface of the saturated active carbon before and after regeneration. Results revealed that the concentration of the regenerating solvent had the most significant synergistic effect on the regeneration process. The optimum conditions for the maximum regeneration of the spent activated carbon within the range of the variables studied were found to be: 8M acetic acid, 100 min, and 40 mL of acetic acid. The regenerated and pristine MAC when reused to adsorb fresh MB solutions (50 ml of 10mg/L MB: 0.2g adsorbent) had an adsorption capacity of 2.1912mg/g and 2.0977mg/g for MB respectively. Hence, the regenerated carbon outperformed the pristine active carbon. It could therefore be explored further as a recyclable adsorbent for wastewater treatment.
[1] K. Y. Foo and B. H. Hameed. (2012). “A cost effective method for regeneration of durian shell and jackfruit peel activated carbons by microwave irradiation”. Chemical Engineering Journal. 193–194 : 404–409. 10.1016/j.cej.2012.04.055.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2012.04.055[2] B. Van Vliet. (1991). “The Regeneration of Activated Carbon.” Journal of South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. 91 (5): 159–167.
[3] I. K. Shah, P. Pre, and B. J. Alappat. (2014). “Effect of thermal regeneration of spent activated carbon on volatile organic compound adsorption performances”. Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. 45 (4): 1733–1738. 10.1016/j.jtice.2014.01.006.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2014.01.006[4] N. Ghasemzadeh, M. Ghadiri, and A. Behroozsarand. (2017). “Optimization of chemical regeneration procedures of spent activated carbon”. Advances in Environmental Technology. 3 (1): 45–51. 10.22104/aet.2017.504.
[5] R. M. Narbaitz and J. McEwen. (2012). “Electrochemical regeneration of field spent GAC from two water treatment plants”. Water Research. 46 (15): 4852–4860. 10.1016/j.watres.2012.05.046.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.05.046[6] A. Ma, X. Zheng, C. Liu, J. Peng, S. Li, L. Zhang, and C. Liu. (2017). “Study on regeneration of spent activated carbon by using a clean technology”. Green Processing and Synthesis. 6 (5): 499–510. 10.1515/gps-2016-0110.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/gps-2016-0110[7] K. Sun, J. Jiang, and J. Xu. (2009). “Chemical regeneration of exhausted granular activated carbon used in citric acid fermentation solution decoloration”. Iran Journal of Chemistry and Chemicl Engineering. 28 (1): 79–83.
[8] A. Larasati, G. D. Fowler, and N. J. D. Graham. (2020). “Chemical regeneration of granular activated carbon: Preliminary evaluation of alternative regenerant solutions”. Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology. 6 (8): 2043–2056. 10.1039/d0ew00328j.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EW00328J[9] S. N. Jain, S. R. Tamboli, D. S. Sutar, S. R. Jadhav, J. V. Marathe, and V. N. Mawal. (2022). “Kinetic, equilibrium, thermodynamic, and desorption studies for sequestration of acid dye using waste biomass as sustainable adsorbents”. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. 12 (7): 2597–2609. 10.1007/s13399-020-00780-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-00780-4[10] M. Momina, M. Rafatullah, S. Ismail, and A. Ahmad. (2019). “Optimization study for the desorption of methylene blue dye from clay based adsorbent coating”. Water (Switzerland). 11 (6): 1304–1318. 10.3390/w11061304.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061304[11] M. N. Nasruddin, M. R. Fahmi, C. Z. A. Abidin, and T. S. Yen. (2018). “Regeneration of Spent Activated Carbon from Wastewater Treatment Plant Application”. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 1116 (3): 3202. 10.1088/1742-6596/1116/3/032022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1116/3/032022[12] T. Mariño Peacok, H. Crespo Sariol, Á. Sánchez Roca, J. Puente Torres, G. Gryglewicz, J. Yperman, R. Carleer, D. Vandamme, G. Reggers, K. Vanreppelen, G. Cuyvers, W. Vercruysse, and L. Salomón García. (2021). “Efficiency evaluation of thermally and chemically regenerated activated carbons used in a water cleaning system by acoustic emission analysis”. Journal of Porous Materials. 28 (2): 451–469. 10.1007/s10934-020-01005-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-020-01005-9[13] D. C. Montgomery. (2001). “Design and Analysis, 5th Edn”. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
[14] J. A. Cornell. (2011). “A Primer on Experiments with Mixtures”. Wiley, New York. 10.1002/9780470907443.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470907443[15] M. K. B. Gratuito, T. Panyathanmaporn, R. A. Chumnanklang, N. Sirinuntawittaya, and A. Dutta. (2008). “Production of activated carbon from coconut shell: Optimization using response surface methodology”. Bioresource Technology. 99 (11): 4887–4895. 10.1016/j.biortech.2007.09.042.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2007.09.042[16] S. Das and S. Mishra. (2017). “Box-Behnken statistical design to optimize preparation of activated carbon from Limonia acidissima shell with desirability approach”. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. 5 (1): 588–600. 10.1016/j.jece.2016.12.034.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2016.12.034[17] Z. A. Ghani, M. S. Yusoff, N. Q. Zaman, M. F. M. A. Zamri, and J. Andas. (2017). “Optimization of preparation conditions for activated carbon from banana pseudo-stem using response surface methodology on removal of color and COD from landfill leachate”. Waste Management. 62 : 177–187. 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.02.026.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.02.026[18] Y. El Maguana, N. Elhadiri, M. Bouchdoug, M. Benchanaa, and A. Jaouad. (2019). “Activated Carbon from Prickly Pear Seed Cake: Optimization of Preparation Conditions Using Experimental Design and Its Application in Dye Removal”. International Journal of Chemical Engineering. 2019 (12). 10.1155/2019/8621951.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8621951[19] R. Arunachalam and G. Annadurai. (2011). “Optimized response surface methodology for adsorption of dyestuff from aqueous solution”. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 4 (1): 65–72. 10.3923/jest.2011.65.72.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3923/jest.2011.65.72[20] F. Shakeel, N. Haq, F. K. Alanazi, and I. A. Alsarra. (2014). “Box-behnken statistical design for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution using sodium dodecyl sulfate self-microemulsifying systems”. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. 53 (3): 1179–1188. 10.1021/ie403271t.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/ie403271t[21] S. Teixeira, C. Delerue-Matos, and L. Santos. (2019). “Application of experimental design methodology to optimize antibiotics removal by walnut shell based activated carbon”. Science of the Total Environment. 646 : 168–176. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.204.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.204[22] A. Stafiej, K. Pyrzynska, A. Ranz, and E. Lankmayr. (2006). “Screening and optimization of derivatization in heating block for the determination of aliphatic aldehydes by HPLC”. Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods. 69 (1–2): 15–24. 10.1016/j.jbbm.2006.02.009.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbbm.2006.02.009[23] E. E. Jasper, V. O. Ajibola, and J. C. Onwuka. (2020). “Nonlinear regression analysis of the sorption of crystal violet and methylene blue from aqueous solutions onto an agro-waste derived activated carbon”. Applied Water Science. 10 (6). 10.1007/s13201-020-01218-y.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-020-01218-y[24] H. Tamon, T. Saito, M. Kishimura, M. Okazaki, and R. Toei. (1990). “Solvent regeneration of spent activated carbon in wastewater treatment”. Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan. 23 (4): 426–432. 10.1252/jcej.23.426.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1252/jcej.23.426[25] A. A. Iqbal and A. A. Khan. (2010). “Modelling and analysis of MRR, EWR and surface roughness in EDM milling through response surface methodology”. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 5 (2): 154–162. 10.3923/jeasci.2010.154.162.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3923/jeasci.2010.154.162[26] M. Mourabet, A. El Rhilassi, H. El Boujaady, M. Bennani-Ziatni, R. El Hamri, and A. Taitai. (2015). “Removal of fluoride from aqueous solution by adsorption on hydroxyapatite (HAp) using response surface methodology”. Journal of Saudi Chemical Society. 19 (6): 603–615. 10.1016/j.jscs.2012.03.003.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jscs.2012.03.003[27] Y. Liu, Y. Zheng, and A. Wang. (2010). “Response surface methodology for optimizing adsorption process parameters for methylene blue removal by a hydrogel composite”. Adsorption Science and Technology. 28 (10): 913–922. 10.1260/0263-6174.28.10.913.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1260/0263-6174.28.10.913[28] K. E. Lee, N. Morad, T. T. Teng, and B. T. Poh. (2012). “Factorial Experimental Design for Reactive Dye Flocculation Using Inorganic-Organic Composite Polymer”. APCBEE Procedia. 1 : 59–65. 10.1016/j.apcbee.2012.03.011.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcbee.2012.03.011[29] E. Ghasemian and Z. Palizban. (2016). “Comparisons of azo dye adsorptions onto activated carbon and silicon carbide nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon”. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 13 (2): 501–512. 10.1007/s13762-015-0875-1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-015-0875-1[30] S. Liang, X. Guo, N. Feng, and Q. Tian. (2010). “Isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamic studies of adsorption of Cu2+ from aqueous solutions by Mg2+/K+ type orange peel adsorbents”. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 174 (1–3): 756–762. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.09.116.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.09.116