ADSORPTION SYSTEM SEPARATION FOR HEAVY METAL REMOVAL FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

• Main Author: Nyoman Gita Murti, Ni
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/84888
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The petrochemical industry is one of the most rapidly growing industries in the present time as it produces various useful products to support human life. The processes involved in the petrochemical industry generate a large amount of wastewater that contains various hazards contents such as heavy metals that is harmful for the environment. Therefore, a method to reduce the content of heavy metals contained in the petrochemical industry’s waste needs to be found. This research will focus on the use of adsorption to separate heavy metals such as chromium from the petrochemical industry’s wastewater. The adsorbent used is a combination of kaolinite clay and chitosan in the form of kaolinite-chitosan beads. This synthetized adsorbent is going to be characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and BET methods to analyze their physical and chemical characteristics. In this research, the impact of kaolin clay and chitosan composition on the adsorbent and Cr(VI) concentration on the feed towards the removal efficiency and adsorption capacity is analyzed. This research shows that kaolin-chitosan beads can be used to remove Cr(VI) with the removal efficiency in the range of 11,85% to 99,56% and the range of 1,117 to 5,047 mg adsorbate per gram adsorbent. The composition of kaolin and chitosan in the adsorbent give significance to both the removal efficiency and adsorption capacity. The adsorbent composition of 25% chitosan and 75% kaolin gives the best performance both on removal efficiency and adsorption capacity on low to moderate feed concentration of 20 to 50 mg/L and the adsorbent composition of 75% chitosan and 25% kaolin gives the best performance both on removal efficiency and adsorption capacity on the high feed concentration of 80 mg/L. Meanwhile, the feed concentration only gives significance to removal efficiency with the highest removal efficiency obtaines by using low feed concentration of Cr(VI) or 20 mg/L Cr(VI).