Removal of reactive dyes from wastewater by shale

Colored textile effluents represent severe environmental problems as they contain mixture of chemicals, auxiliariesand dyestuffs of different classes and chemical constitutions. Elimination of dyes in the textile wastewater by conventionalwastewater treatment methods is very difficult. At present, there is a growing interest in using inexpensive and potentialmaterials for the adsorption of reactive dyes. Shale has been reported to be a potential media to remove color from wastewaterbecause of its chemical characteristics. In this study, shale was used as an adsorbent. The chosen shale had particlesizes of : A (1.00 < A < 2.00 mm), B (0.50 < B < 1.00 mm), C (0.25 < C < 0.50 mm), D (0.18 < D < 0.25 mm) and E (0.15 < E < 0.18mm). Remazol Deep Red RGB (Red), Remazol Brilliant Blue RN gran (Blue) and Remazol Yellow 3RS 133% gran (Yellow) wereused as adsorbates. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to investigate the effect of contact time, pH, temperatureand initial dye concentration. It was found that the equilibrium data were best described by the Langmuir isotherm model,with the maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of 0.0110-0.0322 mg/g for Red, 0.4479-1.1409 mg/g for Blue and 0.0133-0.0255 mg/g for Yellow, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of reactive dye by shale occurred at an initial pH of 2,initial concentration of 700 Pt-Co and temperature 45°C. Reactive dye adsorption capacities increased with an increase of theinitial dye concentration and temperature whereas with a decrease of pH. The fixed bed column experiments were appliedwith actual textile wastewater for estimation of life span. The results showed that COD and color removal efficiencies of shalefix bed column were 97% and 90%, respectively. Also the shale fixed bed columns were suitable for using with textile effluentfrom activated sludge system because of their COD and color removal efficiencies and life expectancy comparison using withdyebath wastewater and raw wastewater.