The use of air-lift adsorber with a floating filling from a cross-linked chitosan hydrogels for Reactive Black 5 removal

This work substantially extends knowledge on the possibilities of treating colored industrial wastewater via sorption under flow conditions. The presented study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dye sorption from aqueous solutions under dynamic (flow) conditions in an unconventional air-lift type loop reactor with a filling made of hydrogel chitosan sorbents. The dye was removed from mono-component solutions (deionized water + RB5) and synthetic dyeing wastewater containing RB5 dye, NaCl (3 g/L), and an anti-creasing agent—UNICREASE JET (2 g/L). The sorbents tested in the study included: unmodified chitosan (CHs), chitosan ionically cross-linked with sodium citrate (CHs-CIT), and chitosan covalently cross-linked with epichlorohydrin (CHs-ECH). Each experimental series aimed to determine: the bed break-through time (C(E) = 0.1 C(0)), time of depletion of the sorbent’s sorption properties (C(E) = C(0)), and maximal sorption capacity of the sorbents (Q(max)). The data obtained under dynamic conditions were described using Thomas, Yoon–Nelson, and Bohart–Adams models. The volume of the solution effectively treated in the air-lift reactor was significantly affected by chitosan sorbent type. At C(0) = 50 mg RB5/L, the adsorber with the filling made of 1 g d.m. CHs allowed for the effective treatment of 4.6 L of synthetic wastewater (Q(max) = 1504.7 mg/g), whereas CHs-ECH ensured 34.6 L of the treated solution (Q(max) = 3212.9 mg/g).