Biosorption of potassium ion using bean seeds and its energy saving application

Ca and Mg have been implicated in causing hardness in beans resulting in relatively long cooking time. This study used potassium to replace the cations and determined the adsorption of potassium solution to bean seeds. Then, plantain peel, a natural source of potassium, was used to cook beans and its impact on the cooking time of beans was investigated. The adsorption experiments were performed using batch technique, while metal compositions of the bean seeds and plantain peel were determined by spectroscopy. Optimum removal conditions of potassium ion biosorption using bean seeds were observed at pH 10.2, 2 g bean seed dosage, 180 min agitation time, with 75 ppm as initial metal concentration. The kinetic model correlate with pseudo-second order reaction and the Langmuir adsorption model best fitted the adsorption. After cooking the beans with plantain peel, the concentration of Mg reduced in the bean seeds by about 48%, while the concentration of Ca reduced by about 22%, but the concentration of K increased by over 200% in the cooked bean seeds. Beans treated with plantain peel cooked earlier than the control experiment. This may be affected by pH, adsorbent dosage, metal concentration and contact time.