Batch Removal of Hazardous Safranin-O in Wastewater Using Pineapple Peels as an Agricultural Waste Based Adsorbent

Towards attaining a sustainable engineered chemical processes, pineapple peels waste (Ananas comoscus), a low cost agricultural waste material was investigated to serve as an adsorbent for removal of safranin-O in wastewater treatment. The process was carried out in a batch with different initial concentrations of the adsorbate. The amount of adsorbent dose used was varied, as well as pH and contact time. Initially, the uptake of dye was very fast, but gradually slowed down indicating penetration into the interior of the adsorbent particles. it was observed that acidic pH was more favorable for the adsorption. Maximum adsorption capacity was reached after 90min, during which the adsorbate and adsorbent were in contact at 29oC. The results obtained fitted Freundlich and Langmuir models; the Freundlich model better described the equilibrium dye uptake than the Langmuir. The study suggests that Pineapple peel wastes can be a potential alternate adsorbent for safranin-O removal from wastewater.