Fixed Bed Column Study on the Removal of Chromium (iii) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Using Hemp Fibers with Improved Sorption Performance

Cr (III) removal from aqueous solutions by sorption in a fixed bed column filled with alizarin S impregnated hemp fibers has been studied. The effect of the initial metal ion concentration on the Cr (III) sorption process was investigated and the experimental breakthrough curves were obtained. The breakthrough time and saturation time decreased from 110 min to 80 min and from 300 min to 160 min, respectively, with the increase in the initial concentration from 13.00 mg/L to 26.14 mg/L. The increase in the initial concentration from 13.00 to 26.14 mg/L increased the breakthrough sorption capacity from 4.178 to 6.163 mg/g and decreased the percentage of Cr (III) removal from 73.57% from 62.64%. The breakthrough predictions by Thomas model were found to be very satisfactory. The hemp impregnated with alizarin S column removed >90% of Cr (III) from three samples of synthetic wastewaters containing different amounts of other heavy metal ions.