Adsorption of methylene blue using charcoal produced from agricultuter residue

Maharashtra is a major state in the Indian Union. Vidarbha is the eastern region of Maharashtra state. In Vidarbha annually, around 59, 55, 579 Tons of agricultural crop is produced. After harvesting the crop, large quantities about 1, 15, 61, 204 Tons-of residue is generated. Large amount of residue is simply burnt in the field. This burning of residue wastes the biomass energy. We have used pyrolysis to convert the biomass available in the form of agricultural residues to useful products-mainly biochar. The charcoal produced has been characterized through techniques like SEM, BET surface area values.

The discharge of dyes in the environment is worrying for both toxicological and esthetical reasons. Industries such as textile, leather, paper, plastics, etc., are some of the sources for dye effluents. The presence of Methylene Blue, can cause eye injury for both human and animals. On inhalation, it can give rise to short periods of rapid or difficult breathing while ingestion through the mouth produces a burning sensation and may cause nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating, diarrhea, gastritis and mental confusion.

We have studied adsorption of methylene blue and find that methylene blue can be effectively removed from effluents by adsorption on activated char produced from agricultural residues. The adsorption process has been optimized. We find that maximum adsorption of methylene blue occurred with contact time of 100 minutes at a dosage of 2mg/liter to effect removal of 80% of Methylene Blue from industrial effluent.