Adsorption kinetics of phenol from aqueous solution using sugarcane bagasse ash as low-cost adsorbent material

Abstract

The sugarcane bagasse fly ash was used to evaluate its adsorption behavior for phenol removal from aqueous solution at three different temperatures. Adsorption tests were performed in batch reactors and also in fixed-bed columns. Pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion kinetic models were applied to describe adsorption kinetics in batch systems. The pseudo-second model fitted appropriately the obtained experimental data at the three different temperatures tested. Thomas, Yoon-Nelson, Adams-Bohart and Dose-Response mathematical models were tested for describing phenol adsorption in dynamic systems (fixed bed columns). Experimental data were well-fitted to the non-linear form of all these models with high regression coefficients.