Removal of Textile Dye from Aqueous Solution Using Immobilized Cells on Column pozzolana Bed Reactor

Textile dyes are hazardous and carcinogenic materials. Hence, their removal from wastewater is globally required. This research aims to remove anionic dye red bemacid E-TL from aqueous solutions using a biofilm supported on granular pozzolana in a fixed-bed column. The effect of different experimental conditions such as influent dye concentrations, flow rate and bed depth on red bemacid biosorption at room temperature were investigated. Results indicated that the breakthrough and saturation time increase with the decrease of the flow rate. The same effect is shown when the bed depth is increased. Favorable conditions for dye removal were observed with 60 cm of column height, lowest flow rate 1mL/min and initial red bemacid concentration of 60 mg/L; at which the highest removal efficiency of 52,68% were recorded. The breakthrough data obtained for RB E-TL removal fitted Thomas and Yoon-Nelson model with high correlation coefficients (R2 = 0,992). The results obtained proved that fixed microorganisms biomass could be a promising biosorbent for the removal of red bemacid from aqueous solutions in a dynamic process.