Removal of cadmium and nickel from wastewater using bagasse fly ash—a sugar industry waste

The bagasse fly ash, an industrial solid waste of sugar industry, was used for the removal of cadmium and nickel from wastewater. As much as 90% removal of cadmium and nickel is possible in about 60 and 80 min, respectively, under the batch test conditions. Effect of various operating variables, viz., solution pH, adsorbent dose, adsorbate concentration, temperature, particle size, etc., on the removal of cadmium and nickel has been studied. Maximum adsorption of cadmium and nickel occurred at a concentration of 14 and 12 mg l1 and at a pH value of 6.0 and 6.5, respectively. A dose of 10 g l1 of adsorbent was sufficient for the optimum removal of both the metal ions. The material exhibits good adsorption capacity and the adsorption data follow the Langmuir model better then the Freundlich model. The adsorption of both the metal ions increased with increasing temperature indicating endothermic nature of the adsorption process. Isotherms have been used to determine thermodynamic parameters of the process, viz., free energy change, enthalpy change and entropy change.