Investigation on removal of malachite green using EM based compost as adsorbent

The discarded materials from different sources can be utilized as effective materials in wastewater remediation. This proposed study was aimed mainly to investigate the possibility of Effective Microorganisms based compost (EM<inf>KC</inf>), which is derived from the kitchen solid waste, as a non-conventional low cost adsorbent for the removal of malachite green from aqueous solution. Batch experiments were carried out to evaluate the optimum operating parameters like pH (2-9), initial dye concentration (50-1000mg/L), adsorbent particle size (0.6-2.36mm) and adsorbent dosage (2-12g/L). EM<inf>KC</inf> recorded maximum uptake of 136.6mg/g of MG at pH 8, initial dye concentration 1000mg/L, adsorbent particle size 1.18mm and adsorbent dosage 4g/L. Two and three parameter adsorption models were employed to describe experimental biosorption isotherm data. The results revealed that the Sips model resulted in better fit than other models. The pseudo-first and -second order models were applied to describe kinetic data, of which the pseudo-second order described experimental data better with high correlation coefficient. This investigation suggested that EM<inf>KC</inf> could be an effective and low cost material for the removal of malachite green dye from aqueous solution.