EFFICIENCY OF ACACIA TORTILLIS PLANT POD SHELL AS A LOW COST AND AVAILABLE ADSORBENT FOR THE REMOVAL OF PHENOL

The presence of nondegradable toxic compounds such as phenol in the environment has nowadays led to many health and environmental problems. The present empirical study was conducted on the lab scale to evaluate the efficiency of Acacia tortillis pod shell as a new alternative and low cost adsorbent for removing phenol from aqueous solutions. The experiment was performed in a batch system and the effects of important operation variables including initial phenol concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 mg/l, absorbent doses of 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6g/l in predetermined mesh sizes (ranging over 30-60 and 60-100), pH levels of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12, and contact times of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min were evaluated. Finally, the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms were determined in order to describe the relationship between the colored solution and the absorbent. Results showed that the highest phenol absorption efficiency achieved was above 95% which was obtained with an optimum pH level of 2, an optimum absorbent dose of 0.2 g/l, and a mesh size of 60-100 for a contact time of 10 minutes and at a low pollutant concentration. Increasing phenol concentration increased its removal efficiency but this removal rate was lower at extreme concentrations. Also, the adsorption process was found to be more compatible with the Freundlich model. Based on the results obtained, the pod shells of Acacia tortillis pod shell may be claimed to be an effective, efficient, and cheap absorbent for the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions.