Adsorption capacity of clayey pellets as the function of the particle size distribution

Abstract

The adsorption potential of clayey pellets for the removal of zinc (II) ions from the printing developer was studied. The aim of this experiment was the use of a low-cost effective adsorbent based on the optimization of fired clay pellets size (d<inf>1</inf> ≈ 5 mm, d<inf>2</inf> ≈ 8 mm) for zinc (II) ions in the order to assist small-scale industries and overcome the problems of high cost equipments involved in treating procedure of effluents. Batch adsorption technique was used in order to investigate the effect of initial metal ion concentration and contact time. The effect of contact time showed a fast initial uptake within 30 minutes with the equilibrium established at 60 and 75 minutes. An increase in the percentage removal of zinc (II) ions with the sorbent increasement was observed. The interpreted adsorption data show that only the Freundlich model had the best agreement over the whole adsorption range (the correlation coefficient R<inf>2</inf> = 0.849). The achieved adsorption efficiency of the adsorbent was 92.8%. Evidently, the fired clay pellets, as adsorbents, can be a good economical alternative for the Zn(II) ions removal from waste printing developers.