Removing Reactive Dyes from Textile Effluent Using Banana Fibre

The ability of a particular banana fibre in removing reactive dyes from textile wastewater was studied in the present work. Locally available ground seeded banana fibre of ≤ 212 μ was used as adsorbent. Initially the adsorbent was tested on standard Novacron Blue FN-R reactive dye solutions and then it was also applied to raw textile wastewater. The adsorbent was found very effective to remove reactive dyes from water. The adsorption was found dependent on pH, contact time, adsorbent/dye ratio and initial concentration of the dye solution. It was found that the adsorption efficiency became maximum at pH 2 and it decreased with increasing pH. The adsorption was quite fast; approximately 90% of removal efficiency was achieved in 5 m, and the adsorption was completed in 20 m under suitable conditions. It was observed that at adsorbent-dye ratio of 333:1, the adsorbent was able to eliminate the reactive dye completely from standard aqueous solution within 20 m at pH 2. The removal efficiency decreased with increasing concentration of dye solution. When the adsorbent was applied to raw wastewater containing three reactive dyes Novacron Blue FN-R, Novacron Yellow FN-2R, and Novacron Red-FN 3GL, it was obtained that 1.0 g of adsorbent was able to convert 30 mL of deep colored wastewater into colorless and transparent water at pH 2. The values of DO, COD, TS, TDS, TSS, salinity and conductivity of wastewater were comparable before and after the interaction with the adsorbent. Index Term— Adsorbent, adsorption, banana fibre, Novacron Blue, reactive dye, wastewater