DECOLOURISATION OF WATERS USING FLAX SHIVES WASTED FROM AGRICULTURE

摘要

Laboratory investigations for the potential usage of agricultural waste Flax shives as an adsorbent for water de-colourisation were conducted in a batch sorption system. Flax (Linum usitatisimum) is a plant grown in Egypt consisting of long fibres used for linen production, the seeds for oil production, and short fibres (shives, a main fiber flax by-product) are wasted during the processing of flax stocks. The adsorption equilibrium using model aqueous solutions of Basic Yellow 21 has been studied. The experimental data fit Tempkin equation better than those of Langmuir and Freundlich. The adsorption capacity of the Flax shives for Basic Yellow 21 was found to be 76.92 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics with respect to the initial dye concentration, adsorbent mass and stirring rate was investigated. The pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion models were used to describe the kinetic data. The rate constants were also evaluated. The adsorption kinetics fit very well the second-order kinetic model. Sorption mechanism onto Flax shives was also discussed. The results obtained during this study revealed the possible usage of Flax shives as an alternative, low-cost adsorbent for decolourisation of wastewaters.