Optimization Studies of Adsorptive Tendency of Flamboyant Pod Bark in Wastewater Treatment of 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol Using Response Surface Methodology

Adsorptive capacity of an adsorbent is the main parameter used to categorise efficiency of an adsorbent regardless of its source and a parametric study into the influence of variables that influence adsorptive capacity will enhance the performance of an adsorbent. The experiments used for this study were designed towards the determination of adsorption capacity of flamboyant pod bark activated carbon (FPBAC) as a function of agitation rate, contact time, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration using Central Composite Design (CCD) in Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The result show that the developed adsorptive capacity model was suitable for prediction with a correlation coefficient of 0.9985 without further adjustment to the experimental data and nine out of the twelve variables in the model developed are significant model terms. The maximum adsorption capacity of 34.33 was achieved when agitation rate, contact time, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration were fixed at 151.88 rpm, 120 sec, 0.15 g and 200 mg/g at a desirability of 0.893.