Adsorption of Acid Dyes from Aqueous Solutions by Calcined Alunite and Granular Activated Carbon

Dyestuff production units and dyeing units have always had a pressing need for techniques that allow economical pretreatment for color in the effluent. The effectiveness of adsorption for dye removal from wastewaters had made it an ideal alternative to other expensive treatment options. This paper deals with an investigation on alunite, existing wide reserves in Türkiye and in the world, for dye removal. Calcined alunite was utilized for this study and its performance evaluated against that of granular activated carbon (GAC). The use of calcined alunite for the removal of Acid Blue 40 and Acid Yellow 17 (AB 40 and AY 17) from aqueous solution at different calcination temperature and time, particle size, pH, agitation time and dye concentration has been investigated. The adsorption followed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The process follows first order adsorption rate expression and the rate constant was found to be 7.65 × 10^–2 and 5.74 × 10^–2 min^–1 for adsorption of AB 40 and AY 17 on calcined alunite, and 8.41 × 10^–2 and 10.04 × 10^–2 min^–1 for adsorption of AB 40 and AY 17 on GAC, respectively. The equilibrium saturation adsorption capacities were 212.8 mg dye/g calcined alunite and 151.5 mg dye/g calcined alunite for AB 40 and AY 17, respectively. The adsorption capacities were found to be 57.47 mg and 133.3 mg dye per g of GAC for AB 40 and AY 17, respectively. The results indicate that, for the removal of acid dye, calcined alunite was most effective adsorbent, although comparable dye removals were exhibited by GAC.