Parametric evaluation of a packed adsorption column to remove Cr (VI) using Langmuir and Freundlich with (LDF) and (QDF)
Villabona-Ortiz Ángel, Tejada-Tovar Candelaria, González-Delgado Ángel
Abstract
Cr (VI) is a highly hazardous heavy metal that causes different harmful effects to humans and ecosystems. This research seeks to model an industrial scale operating column for the adsorption of Cr (VI) present in wastewater using Theobroma cacao L as adsorbent. For this purpose, Aspen Adsorption software was used to perform several simulations of an industrial scale adsorption column with different configurations to obtain a parametric evaluation using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models with the kinetic models of Linear Lumped Resistance (LDF) and Quadratic Lumped Resistance (QDF). The results obtained show that Langmuir-LDF showed adsorption efficiencies up to 96.884 %, Freundlich-LDF up to 97.09 %, and Langmuir-QDF and Freundlich-QDF showed efficiencies up to a maximum of 98.4 % in both cases. The best parametric fit to simulate the column for all cases was 5 m head, 100 m3/day inflow and 5000 mg/L initial concentration. The parametric evaluation showed that decreasing the inflow and increasing the height of the column increased the breakthrough and saturation times. In addition, varying the initial concentration did not significantly affect the process. These results demonstrated the potential of computational tools as an excellent alternative to anticipate the performance of a packed column at an industrial level. • Modeling of an industrial-scale biomass packed adsorption column. • Parametric analysis of the impact of parameter alteration. • Increase in the input flow and reduction of the efficiency increase height. • Aspen adsorption is an excellent computational tool for industrial scale column modeling.