Date of Award

11-2010

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Dissertation

Divisions

Faculty of Science

Department

Department of Chemistry

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

Presence of lead, a heavy metal in the environment has been a serious concern especially with rapid industrialization which has created new uses for lead. The acute toxicity of lead to aquatic Life and humans and the stringent effluent standard to be met by industries as specified by regulatory organizations has necessitated the development of innovative, effective and economical methods for treating lead-bearing wastewater. An adsorption process using an inexpensive adsorbent such as Jatropha seed husk is an attractive option for the removal of lead from wastewater. In this study batch isotherm and kinetic studies were carried out on a laboratory scale to evaluate the adsorption capacity of Jatropha seed husk and contact time on lead removal was studied. Desorption studies were also conducted using deionized water to evaluate desorption of lead from Jatropha seed husk. Batch kinetic studies indicated that Jatropha seed husk was effective in removing 95.5% of lead. The equilibrium time was determined to be 60 min and pH was found to be 5.5 ± 2. The kinetics of adsorption of lead ions on Jatropha seed husk could be adequately described by the Lagergren model and pseudosecond order reaction rate model. The batch isotherm studies showed that the adsorption data can be described by the Langmuir and Freundlich. Langmuir model was found to describe the adsorption data better compared to the Freundlich.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 2010.

Download

Share

COinS