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Biosorption of Heavy Metals from Industrial Wastewater using Local Blue-Green Microalgae

Corresponding Author : M.I. Kabir (imran.kabir-cee@sust.edu)

Authors : S.A.Chowdhury (samin.054@student.sust.edu)

Keywords : Wastewater treatment, Heavy metals, High performance algal pond, Photobioreactor, Ecological engineering

Abstract :

Heavy metal pollution and its effects on public health and the environment have led to an increased interest in developing biotechnological approaches. This study was carried out to check the heavy metal biosorption capacity of locally available blue-green microalgae. In this study, microalgae were collected from local ponds and cultured in BG-11 medium. Sixteen different algal doses from 0.2 g/L to 20 g/L were applied to synthetic wastewater and their removal efficiencies of Cr(VI), Ni(II) and Zn(II) were found to be 94%, 87% and 90% respectively. A steady removal rate was found at and beyond 10 g/L of algal dose for a 3-day hydraulic retention time. The removal efficiency versus algal dose plot demonstrates a saturation type curve with a steep slope in the range of 0.2-10 g/L reaching the removal efficiency higher than 90% at 10 g/L. The equilibrium sorption data were fitted into Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. In the case of three heavy metals, the separation factors, RL1 of Freundlich isotherms refer to normal and cooperative adsorption processes, respectively. In the modelled data, the coefficient of determination (R2>0.65) and the root mean square error (RMSE

Published on October 25th, 2021 in Volume 3 Issue 1, Civil Engineering, Environment and Architecture