Study of the adsorption of methylene blue by natural materials (olive stone, date pit and their mixture) in fixed bed column

Abstract

The present study focuses on the recovery of two agro-food waste available in our country with significant quantities olive pomace and date pits for the removal of a synthetic dye which is methylene blue. Both materials were used in their native forms separated and mixed to improve their adsorptive capacity. A range of physico-chemical analysis was performed to characterize adsorbents used, among them: the FTIR spectroscopy and the scanning electron microscopy. The ability of adsorbents prepared to adsorbe methylene blue (MB) from the aqueous solution was investigated in a fixed bed column. The effects of several important parameters were studied, such as initial concentration of MB, flow rate and bed height. The corresponding breakthrough curves were calculated.