Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Bioresource Technology Reports

journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com/journal/bioresource-technology-reports

Sugarcane bagasse based activated carbon preparation and its adsorption

efficacy on removal of BOD and COD from textile effluents: RSM based
modeling, optimization and kinetic aspects
Surafel Mustefa Beyan a, *, S. Venkatesa Prabhu b, T. Tsegaye Sissay b, A. Abraham Getahun c
a
School of Chemical Engineering, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Jimma, Oromia, Ethiopia
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
c
Central Laboratory, Research and Technology Transfer, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study focused on the removal of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from
Textile wastewater textile waste effluents using activated carbon prepared from sugarcane bagasse (SBAC). Various techniques
Treatment including XRD, SEM, BET and FTIR were done to characterize the SBAC. The three independent process vari­
Sugar cane bagasse
ables, SBAC dose, pH and reaction time were selected to develop mathematical models for BOD and COD removal
Activated carbon
RSM
efficiency using response surface methodology (RSM). The predicted models were statistically optimized to
maximize BOD and COD removal. The optimal values were predicted to be a SBAC dose of 0.915 g/L, pH of
3.225, and a reaction time of 98.91 min for maximized BOD and COD removal efficiencies of 0.0225 and 0.023
mg/L min− 1, respectively. Using these optimal values, kinetics studies from the experimental data showed that
the rate constants for BOD and COD removal were 0.028 and 0.0274 mg/L min− 1, respectively.

1. Introduction biological methods. Trapping contaminants to avoid their release and

Recently, the textile industries have gained a remarkable economic
significance globally. This industry includes diverse bodies that involve
various manufacturing elements with different kinds of fibers for
manufacturing a wide variety of fabrics with attractive properties. In the
textile industries, globally more than 8000 chemical compounds are
used for preparing 400 billion m2 of fabric each year. During textile
manufacturing processes, various chemical treatments such as sizing,
scoring, mercerizing, coloring, printing, and finishing are carried out
(Alkaya and Demirer, 2014). Textile industries utilize various chemical
compounds to control the properties of auxiliary textiles such as fabric
texture, serviceability and durability. During the various processes in
the textile industries, significant quantities of toxic wastewater are
generated that require complex treatments before being released back
into the environment (Isik et al., 2019; Lellis et al., 2019). Chemical
pollutants from textile wastewaters pose serious safety risks to people
and the environment. Various approaches have been proposed for con­
trolling textile wet processes to better protect the environment and
ecosystems. Modern management for the treatment of wastewater
effluent from the textile industries can entail physical, chemical, and/or
prevent pollution of uncontaminated areas can be done through various
physical methods such as encapsulation, filtration, gravity settling,
adsorption, and stabilization (Katheresan et al., 2018). Wastewater
generated in the course of processing in the fabric industry has excessive
biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD)
(Oyebamiji et al., 2019; Patel and Vashi, 2015). Improper treatment of
textile wastewater is one cause of environmental issues that may
aggravate human health problems. Hence, effective treatment of the
effluents produced by textile industries is a global issue.
Adsorption is an inexpensive, novel, efficient and easy methodology
for treating textile wastewater to remove pollutants. Activated carbon is
one of the most used adsorbents. It has an appropriate pore size distri­
bution, large specific surface area and high surface reactivity. However,
it is relatively costly and its regeneration is difficult. This has led to
exploration of new low cost and efficient materials to adsorb pollutants
in recent years. It has been found that activated carbon produced from
various industrial and agricultural wastes shows high potential to
remove pollutants. Several agricultural by-products such as rice husks,
corn cobs, banana peels, flower wastes, and sugarcane bagasse have
been used for preparation of activated carbon. In this regard, low-cost

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: surafelmb@gmail.com (S.M. Beyan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2021.100664
Received 4 November 2020; Received in revised form 13 February 2021; Accepted 14 February 2021
Available online 25 February 2021
2589-014X/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.M. Beyan et al.
materials that are highly efficient and can be used with simple tech­
nology are necessary to mitigate pollutants from textile effluents.
Recently, researchers have turned their attention to better, easily
available yet less expensive materials to produced activated carbon
(Danish et al., 2018). Sugarcane bagasse is certainly an important agro-
industrial residue with a high cellulose content (Mpatani et al., 2020;
Silveira et al., 2018). It mainly consists of cellulose (45%), hemi­
celluloses (28%), and lignin (18%) (Nikodinovic-Runic et al., 2013).
These materials contain carboxylic and hydroxyl groups with the po­
tential to adsorb dye molecules by means of ion exchange and/or
complexation (Ge et al., 2017). Hence, they are attractive as they are
inexpensive and effective adsorbents. Several researches have been
carryout using sugarcane bagasse derived activated carbon. Cueva-
Orjuela et al. (2017) investigated about the potential use of SBAC for
treatment of textile effluent. They examine to optimize the adsorption
process through a response surface design to remove the dyes, basic red
46 and BR46. The effect of factors such as point of zero charge, solution
pH, particle size, adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, contact
time and ionic strength was evaluated using a statistical design of ex­
periments that allowed to achieve a maximum adsorption of 95.0%
(Cueva-Orjuela et al., 2017). Ajinomoh and Salahudeen (2014) carried
out a study on synthesis of activated carbon from sugarcane bagasse
using zinc chloride as activating agent with different ratios. From these
results, the ratio of 1:1 zinc chloride to sugarcane bagasse activation
showed a good activated carbon with the highest adsorption capacity of
6.67 mg/g for phenol. Using phosphoric acid activation, a mechano­
chemical processing was carried out to prepare SCBAC by Cui et al. They
found that the prepared SCBAC by mechanochemical processing acti­
vated by phosphoric acid exhibited less processing time, greater adsor­
bed volume of iodine, and higher adsorption capacity for methylene
blue (Chen et al., 2012). A study with respect to physisorption and
chemisorption of methylene blue and its kinetics were undertaken by
Chaiwon et al. (2017) using H2SO4 as activating agent. They observed
that the kinetics of methylene blue adsorption followed the pseudo-
second-order model and suggested that the rate-limiting step the
adsorption process by chemical sorption (Chaiwon et al., 2017). An
Investigation on the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions was done
by Akl (2014). In this study, sugarcane bagasse residues modified
physically by steam and chemically using NaOH were used. They found
that the modification of SBAC by steam and NaOH significantly
increased the oxygen-containing groups on the surface of activated
carbons. Kaushik et al. (2017) found that the high molecular weight
heterogeneous polymers, melanoidins, were effectively adsorbed by
SCBAC followed by desorption using 25% pyridine solution. Mohamed
et al. (2015) were carried out on the removal of formaldehyde gas using
SCBAC. The results showed that the formaldehyde gas removal rate was
more than 67% in the plant treated chamber. Recently, Ahmad et al.
(2020) have examined on the adsorption of 1-[2-(2-chloroethoxy)
phenyl] sulfonyl-3-(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) urea (tri­
asulfuron) using SCBAC. They suggested that SCBAC-mediated elimi­
nation of triasulfuron is beneficial for both economically and
environmentally. Around 50% triasulfuron was easily detached from
soils by this methodology.
In this study, sugarcane bagasse was used to prepare activated car­
bon to treat a textile wastewater. Prior to conducting the investigation,
the textile wastewater was characterized to determine its primary
physio-chemical properties. Response surface methodology (RSM) is a
proven and effective tool for sequential analysis to study process
modeling and optimization. It gives sufficient information to test the
interaction effects among the process variables with a reasonable
number of experiments (Kidus Tekleab et al., 2020; Venkatesa et al.,
2019). Additionally, it uses mathematical and analytical means to
identify interrelationships between numerical input variables to obtain
their optimum values (Manohari et al., 2017; Tetteh and Rathilal, 2017).
Even though several studies have been conducted using activated
carbon derived from sugarcane bagasse (SBAC) to remove various
2
Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664
organic/inorganic pollutants, no investigations have been made for
mathematical modeling and statistical optimization of COD and BOD
removal from textile industry effluents using SBAC. Hence, this study
was focused on development of a model and its optimization for
removing COD and BOD from textile industry wastewater using SBAC as
an adsorbent. Furthermore, the study was aimed for statistical optimi­
zation of the process parameters, SBAC dose, reaction pH and reaction
time. Additionally, experimental data was subjected to kinetics analysis
for determination of removal rates for COD and BOD under optimal
conditions.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
Analytical grade reagents and chemicals were used in this study.
They were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. A pH meter (Model 3520) was
used for pH measurements. The wastewater effluent sample was
collected from Ayka Addis Textile Industry, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It
was taken directly from the effluent outlet of a static screen and placed
in clean 5 L polyethylene bottles. The samples were preserved at 4 ◦ C in a
refrigerator prior to further experimentation.
2.2. Activated carbon preparation from sugarcane bagasse
Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was collected from Didessa Sugar Factory,
Oromia, Ethiopia. It was washed thoroughly using distilled water and
dried in a laboratory oven at 105 ◦ C for 24 h. Furthermore, it was pul­
verized using an electric ball-mill followed by sieve analysis to obtain a
uniform particle size of 250 μm. The material was subjected to a
chemical activation method in which a mixture a 1:3 (w/w) ratio of SCB
particles to concentrated sulfuric acid was used. The acid acted as a
dehydrating agent restrain the tar structure, thus producing a refined
porosity in the resulting activated carbon. Activated carbon was pre­
pared using the procedures of Dao and Le Luu (2020), Saad et al. (2010)
and Tahir et al. (2016) with some modifications. Chemically treated SCB
particles were dried in an oven for 4 h at 115 ◦ C. Then, they were heated
within a muffle furnace for 2 h at 450 ◦ C. The cinder material collected
from the furnace was soaked in a 1% of sodium bicarbonate solution for
4 h. It was cleaned once with distilled water followed by a 1% sodium
bicarbonate solution for 24 h to remove residual acid. Then, chemically
treated SCB particles were cleaned with distilled water to remove the
remaining bicarbonates. Chemically and thermally activated SCB par­
ticles were then dried overnight in an oven at 120 ◦ C. The dried particles
were pulverized and sieved. Particles of sizes ranging between 250 and
300 μm were selected for use as activated carbon (SBAC). This was
selected as an adsorbent and used in further experiments.
2.3. Characterization of SBAC
Activated carbon prepared from sugarcane bagasse was character­
ized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–­
Teller (BET) analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET SA-
9600, USA) surface area was observed from melting point analysis of
nitrogen gas mono-layer sorption on the surface of SBAC at 77 K. Helium
gas (at 2 bars of pressure) was used as a carrier for the nitrogen gas (2.5
bar) and to purge air from the environment. To determine the specific
surface area of the samples, a mixture of helium and nitrogen gases (20%
and 30%, respectively) was used. The SBAC was tempered at a tem­
perature of 120 ◦ C for 1 h. Pretreated 0.1 g samples were subjected to
BET studies. The adsorbent samples of SBAC, SEM analysis was carried
out (FEI, INSPCT-F50, Germany) to elucidate the surface morphology.
SBAC samples were placed on aluminum stubs, covered with a
conductive carbon adhesive tape, and visualized using SEM operating at
15 kV with a 40 μm working distance in a vacuum. To determine the
S.M. Beyan et al.
Table 1
Levels of the three independent variables studied.
Variables Factor Unit 1 (high -1 (low
coding level) level)
SBAC A g/L 1.1 0.5
dosage
pH B – 7 3
Contact C min 100 60
time
presence of functional groups in the SBAC, the sample was subjected to
FTIR (iS50 ABX, Germany) within the spectral region range of 4000
cm− 1 to 400 cm− 1. These wavelengths were generated using an IR light
source and KBr pellet method, adapted to do FTIR analysis. Additionally,
XRD analysis was carried out on SBAC to investigate the amorphous and
crystalline nature of the acquired product. XRD investigations were done
using an Olympus BTX-528 XRD by Cu–Co with a radiation source
working at a voltage of 40 kV and a 25 mA current using diffraction
angles (2θ) of 5o to 55o. The split threshold value was kept as 4.
2.4. Physiochemical characterization of textile effluents
The pH of a collected raw textile effluent was determined on-site.
Furthermore, turbidity, total solids, electrical conductance, total sus­
pended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), BOD, and COD were
analyzed before experimentation according to the methods prescribed
by APHA (Franson, 1998). Color measurements were made according to
the Platinum-Cobalt unit.
Area of Crystalline peak
Crystallinity (%) = × 100
Area of Peak (Crystalline + Amorophours)
2.5. Batch adsorption experiments for BOD and COD removal using RSM
Prior to the design of experiments, prelimenary adsorption experi­
ments were carried out using SCB and SBAC to determine the feasibility
of COD and BOD removal at pH 4, with a contact time of 60 min and a
dose of 1 g/L. From this study, it was observed that the removal of BOD
and COD by SBAC adsorbent was 80% greater than for SCB. Based on
this result, SBAC was chosen as the adsorbent for optimization studies.
The study focused on optimization and investigation of the interac­
tion effects of SBAC dose, solution pH and contact time on the COD and
BOD removal efficiency from the textile effluent. Agitation speed was
450 rpm at a constant room temperature. For RSM analysis, the com­
bination of the selected parameters was determined using central com­
posite design (CCD). This procedure ensures that all factors and their
interactions are systematically explored. The chosen parameters and
their respective levels are given in Table 1. Based on the number of
parameters, CCD indicated 20 combination experiments that account for
factorial, axial and center points. Hence, all the experimental runs were
carried out in triplicate and the mean value of the response (percent
removal of BOD and COD) was reported.
The experimental observations obtained from the CCD were statis­
tically analyzed and fitted to a second order polynomial model to
develop an empirical mathematical model to indicate the relationship
between the response and independent factors. The second order poly­
nomial equation takes the form:
∑ ∑ ∑∑
k k k
R = β0 + βj X j + βjj X2j + βji Xi Xj + ei
j=1 j=1 i <j=2
where, R is the response [BOD/COD removal (%)]. Xi and Xj refer var­
iables (i and j ranging from 1 to k). β0 refers the intercept coefficient. βj,
βjj and βij are known interaction coefficients for the respective terms, k is
the number of chosen independent variables (k = 3 in this study), and ei
is an error term.
Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664
Furthermore, the parameters were optimized to maximize the
response using numerical optimization. ANOVA (analysis of variance)
− α +α was employed to evaluate the statistical constraints. The optimal values
of the chosen variables were attained by solving a regression equation.
0.295 1.304 Interaction effects among the factors were analyzed by developing
response surfaces and contour plots. CCD-RSM analyses were performed
1.64 8.4 using Design-Expert 12.0 software. To validate the developed model,
46.36 113.6 prediction using the point prediction feature of Design-Expert 12 soft­
ware, experimental runs was done in triplicate.
2.6. Kinetics approach for BOD and COD removal
Since these processes involve reaction rate controlling mechanisms,
a pseudo-first order kinetics model (Eq. (1)) was employed to assess the
rate of removal of BOD/COD by evaluating rate constant, kp (Kumar
et al., 2020; Ma et al., 2011). Adsorption studies were carried out using
the optimal conditions determined from RSM analysis. The BOD and
COD removals were calculated at various times until reaching an
optimal time (Sundramurthy et al., 2020; Venkatesa Prabhu and Baskar,
2015) as:
dCp ( )
= kp Cpi − Cpt (2)
dt
(
Cpi
)
ln = kp t (3)
Cpi − Cpt
where, ( dt p ) is the incremental rate of BOD/COD removal, kp is the rate
dC
constant of BOD/COD removal, CPi is the total BOD/COD content in the
raw wastewater and Cpt is BOD/COD content in a treated solution at
(1)
time t. By integrating Eq. (2) between the initial time (t = 0 min, Cpt = 0)
and the conditions corresponding to a time t (t = t m, Cpt = Cpt), a linear
form can be obtained as Eq. (3). Using this equation, the rate constant
( )
value (kp) was determined from the slope of a plot of ln Cpi − piCpt vs time
C
and was reported in units of mg/L min− 1. The linear fit of the data was
evaluated based the plot’s correlation coefficient (R) value.
3. Result and discussion
3.1. Characterization of SBAC and SCB
The specific surface area of SBAC was found to be 591 m2/g using
BET analysis. Chemical activation using sulfuric acid created porous
area on the SBAC. However, the observed BET surface area of SBAC is
comparatively smaller than that of commercially available activated
carbon (Mohamed et al., 2015). The surface morphology observed from
SEM imagery for SBAC. From the SEM image, it can be seen that SBAC
subjected to sulfuric acid activation had significant effects. The size and
shape of the pores present in the SBAC are artificially created with
different physio-chemical properties than found in the raw material.
Additionally, this material could be affected by an oxidizing agent,
chemical treatment and the impregnation ratio (Kim, 2004).
FTIR spectrum analysis clearly shows the functional groups SBAC.
From the analysis, it can be understood that the sorption mechanism and
adsorption/desorption behaviors were dominated by the functional
groups present in the adsorbent. The FTIR spectrum showed that the
SBAC had a large number of peaks. This indicates the complex nature of
SBAC. There were two strong bands at around 1000 cm− 1 and 550 cm− 1.
These typical bands indicate the presence of inorganic phosphates.
Strong peaks in the range of 1085–1024 cm− 1 indicate the presence of
C–O stretching vibrations in primary alcohol, secondary alcohol and
aliphatic ether (Mistar et al., 2020). The peaks in the range of
1070–1030 cm− 1 and 1050–1040 cm− 1 are observed. These peaks
clearly represent strong S– – O stretching corresponding to sulfoxide
compounds and strong CO–O–CO stretching related to anhydride
3
S.M. Beyan et al. Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664

Table 2 absorption found at 3300 cm− 1. These distinct structures and functional
The physicochemical characteristics of collected raw wastewater from groups would have a promising effect on the adsorption of organic
Ayka Addis textile industry. molecules through hydrogen bonding, chelation and electrostatic
Parameters Textile effluent values adsorption.
pH 8.9
The SBAC sample was examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The
Turbidity 135 NTU crystal structure of SBAC at 2θ (o) ~ 26.689 and d-spacing ~3.3375 was
Color (Pt–Co) 1140 an orthorhombic Haklaite with lattice parameters of a = 9.3246 Å, b =
Suspended solid 198 mg/L 5.4992 Å and c = 9.7892 Å. These values exactly matched the current
Total dissolved solid 11,540 mg/L
AMCSD (American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database) card (set 2
Chemical oxygen demand 960 mg/L
Biological oxygen demand 490 mg/L ~ file ~7194 and subfile ~ mineral). It had a plane of (213). A phase of
Sitinakite with a tetragonal arrangement was found at 2θ (o) ~ 11.279
and d-spacing ~7.8389 with lattice parameters a = b = 7.819 Å and c =
compounds. A peak at 1249.67 cm− 1 indicate the presence of medium 12.099 Å. It had a space group of P2/mcm and a (312) plane. Further­
C–N stretching in amines. Alternatively, there were no peaks found in more, at 2θ (o) ~ 32.356 and d-spacing ~2.764, a BGaO4Sr phase with
SCB. The small peak in the spectra at 1520 cm− 1 was due to aromatic an orthorhombic crystal system within the space group of P2_12_12
skeletal vibration (Kan et al., 2017; Kumar and Jena, 2016). Small bands existed. Peaks for Pyrargyrite and Gillespite were located at 2θ (o) ~
at 1619 cm− 1 and 1729 cm− 1 are observed that correspond to strong 32.123 and 26.495, respectively. A broad peak was observed showing
stretching of C–– O bonds. This can be attributed to α and β-unsaturated the presence of an amphoras structure. Additionally, the percent crys­
ketones and strong carboxylic acid. The broad peak at 3337 cm− 1 was tallinity was calculated using Eq. (1) for SBAC and found to be 52.89%.
found to be due to the O–H stretching vibrations of hydroxyl groups.
The band at 2900 cm− 1 can be attributed to a medium C–H vibrational
3.2. Physiochemical characteristics of textile effluents
stretching in alkenes. Also, the presence of mono-substituted acetylenes
was identified by the strong –C=C–H (carbon hydrogen) stretching
Physicochemical characterization results on the textile wastewater

Table 3
CCD matrix of adsorption experiments with factor setup, actual and predicted response values.
Run Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Response (% removal)

A: BAC dosage B: pH C: Contact time (min) COD BOD

(g/L)
Actual Predicted Actual Predicted

1 0.3 5 80 50.98 52.40 53.14 53.37

2 0.8 5 46 45.46 47.27 43.76 44.21
3 1.1 7 60 52.36 54.53 55.17 56.93
4 0.8 5 80 84.65 82.74 87.52 83.81
5 0.8 8.36 80 49.15 48.95 51.46 51.38
6 0.8 5 114 85.72 80.12 84.35 81.21
7 1.1 3 60 80.61 80.49 83.62 83.58
8 0.5 7 100 59.75 62.34 63.79 65.73
9 0.8 5 80 80.25 82.74 83.45 83.81
10 0.8 5 80 84.46 82.74 85.56 83.81
11 0.8 5 80 83.58 82.74 86.75 83.81
12 0.8 5 80 79.93 82.74 78.66 83.81
13 0.5 3 60 42.06 42.97 40.15 41.65
14 1.3 5 80 88.69 83.77 90.58 87.66
15 0.8 1.63 80 84.56 81.26 86.72 84.11
16 1.1 3 100 92.16 98.73 95.23 98.56
17 0.5 3 100 74.6 74.80 77.86 78.01
18 0.8 5 80 82.95 82.74 80.45 83.81
19 1.1 7 100 60.56 62.12 64.16 64.57
20 0.5 7 60 45.25 41.16 40.14 37.71

Fig. 1. Scatter plot of predicted vs actual for the percent removal of COD and BOD using SBAC.

4
S.M. Beyan et al. Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664

Table 4
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression coefficients of quadratic model for percent of BOD and COD removal.
Source COD removal (%) BOD removal (%)

Sum of square df Mean square F-value P-value Sum of square df Mean square F-value P-value

Model 5840.11 9 648.90 53.48 <0.0001 Significant 6203.85 9 689.07 56.07 <0.0001 Significant
A 1282.63 1 1282.36 105.70 <0.0001 1418.95 1 1418.95 115.43 <0.0001
B 1357.57 1 1357.57 111.88 <0.0001 1293.30 1 1293.30 105.21 <0.0001
C 1426.97 1 1426.97 117.60 <0.0001 1652.45 1 1652.45 134.42 <0.0001
AB 279.54 1 279.54 23.04 0.0007 258.10 1 258.10 21.00 0.0010
AC 99.33 1 99.33 8.19 0.0169 207.67 1 207.67 16.89 0.0021
BC 51.46 1 51.46 4.24 0.0665 34.78 1 34.78 2.83 0.1235
A 390.70 1 390.70 32.19 0.0002 318.53 1 318.53 25.91 0.0005
B 564.70 1 564.70 45.54 <0.0001 465.06 1 465.06 37.83 0.0001
C 648.27 1 648.27 53.43 <0.0001 802.19 1 802.19 65.26 <0.0001
Residual 121.34 10 12.13 122.93 10 12.29
Lack of fit 99.95 5 19.99 4.67 0.058 Not-Significant 55.49 5 11.90 0.9379 0.5272 Not-Significant
Pure error 21.39 5 4.28 63.44 5 12.69
Cor total 5961.45 19 6326.78 19
Std. Dev 3.48 3.51
Mean 70.33 71.63
C.V % 4.95 4.90
R 0.979 0.98
Adj. R 0.961 0.96
Pre. R 0.864 0.91
Adeq. Precision 26.264 24.94
PRESS 807.29 568.08

Where, A is SBAC dosage (g/L), B is pH and C is Contact time (min).

effluent collected from Ayka Addis Textiles are presented in Table 2. The
wastewater sample was bluish in color and alkaline with a pH of 8.9. The
light absorbance capacity was examined on untreated wastewater and
found to be 95%. Its discharge into the environment without proper
treatment could cause serious harm to the fauna, flora and microbial
biota. Such excessive alkalinity is a measure of textile wastewater
strength resulting from dyeing processes (Yaseen and Scholz, 2019).
Textile effluents are a complex combination of chemicals, varying in
composition with time and from factory to factory as well as on a tem­
poral basis at individual factories based on the materials used in wet
processing (Drumond Chequer et al., 2013).
3.3. RSM analysis of COD and BOD removal
Through the various combinations of parameters, 20 experiments
were designed and executed. The experimental and predicted responses
obtained from CCD experiments are given in Table 3.
3.4. Model fitting and regression analysis for COD and BOD removal
The weight of each factor in the model was evaluated using ANOVA.
Several different types of mathematical models were evaluated. A
quadratic model proposed by Design-Expert 12.0 software was chosen
after analyzing R2 values, lack of fit, and p-values. Experimental and
predicted values for percent removal of COD and BOD were obtained
and compared to validate this quadratic model. The linear correlation
between the experimental and predicted values is given in Fig. 1 The
models for COD and BOD removal showed adjusted R2 values of 0.96
and 0.96, and predicted R2 values of 0.87 and 0.91, respectively, indi­
cating good model fit. The difference between the adjusted R2 and
predicted R2 was less than 2. Thus, predictions of this quadratic model
are acceptable. Eqs. (4) and (5) can be respectively applied to predict the
response for COD and BOD removal percent using SBAC.
COD Removal (%) = 82.74 + 9.76A − 10.04B + 10.30C − 6.04AB
− 3.04AC + 2.08BC − 5.18A2 − 6.23B2 − 6.68C2
where, A is SBAC dose (g/L), B is pH and C is contact time (min). Co­
efficients with negative values present negative leverage in the
quadratic models for COD and BOD removal. Although adsorption effi­
ciency of the SBAC adsorbent powder was lower when the dose was in
the range of 0.5 to 0.7 g/L, the high amount COD and BOD removal
occurred at this level. When increasing the SAC dose above 0.8 g/L,
particularly in the range between 0.9 and 1.3 g/L, the highest removal of
both COD and BOD was observed. Hence, the SBAC dose can be one of
the most significant factors that needs to be considered to obtain optimal
conditions for adsorption. However, insufficient dose may result in poor
adsorption. Hence, it is required to determine the optimal dose to
minimize sludge formation, costs, also to attain improved performance
during treatment.
It was observed that the variation in pH had a significant effect on the
removal efficiency of BOD and COD. As shown in the Table 3, the highest
COD and BOD removal were detected in the pH range of 1 to 5.
Improved adsorption could be achieved at lower pH levels, which can be
attributed to the presence of excessive levels of H+ ions. This might be a
reason for neutralizing the negatively charged adsorbent surface. By
comparison, lower adsorption efficiencies were observed at higher pH
values due to the abundance of OH− ions and the resultant ionic
repulsion between the negatively charged active sites of the adsorbent
surfaces. Similar outcomes were found for the reduction of COD and
color from cotton textile using bamboo-based activated carbon as an
adsorbent (Ahmad and Hameed, 2009). Although lower COD and BOD
removal was observed with shorter contact times, the highest percent­
ages of removal were found in the range of 80–100 min of reaction time.
When reaction time exceeded 100 min, there was no substantial increase
in removal. Possibly, at the beginning, solutes molecules were adsorbed
at the exterior surfaces of SBAC particles. Therefore, the adsorption rate
was higher. When the adsorption at these pores reached saturation,
additional molecules could not be adsorbed. Then, the molecules could
diffuse through the pores of the adsorbent to the interior surfaces of the
particles. Since this process would require time, there would be an
optimal adsorption time.
(4)

BOD Removal (%) = 83.81 + 10.19A − 9.73B + 11.00C − 5.68AB 3.5. Analysis by ANOVA
2
− 5.10AC − 2.08BC − 4.7A − 5.68B − 7.46C 2 2
(5)
CCD coupled with RSM gave better results for the adsorption treat­
ments for textile effluents using SBAC. The significance of the coefficient

5
S.M. Beyan et al.
Fig. 2. 3D interactive surface plot for COD and BOD removal percent from textile effluent by SBAC.
terms was examined using the p-values and F-values (Table 4). Higher F-
values and lower p-value indicate a more significant model. For both
COD and BOD removal, the model had p-values less than 0.0001 and F-
values of 53.48 and 56.07, respectively (Table 4). The lack of fit values
for COD and BOD removal were 4.67 and 0.94, which were not signif­
icant relative to the pure error. The signal to noise ratio was measured
using Adeq precision. Their values were observed to be 24.26 and 24.95,
6
Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664
which indicated adequate signal for COD and BOD removal, respec­
tively. A ratio of more than four signifies the importance of this
quadratic model. Thus, these models for BOD and COD removal can be
used to navigate the design space. The smaller value of coefficient of
variation (for COD = 4.95% and for BOD = 4.90%) favors precision with
the experiments results (Venkatesa et al., 2019). The positive value of A
and C coefficients show these parameters have a positive effect on the
S.M. Beyan et al. Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664

Table 5 has negative effect on the BOD and COD removal. In addition, it was
RSM found an optimum condition for COD and BOD (%) removal at a desir­ observed that interaction of pH and contact time (BC), pH and adsorbent
ability level of 1. dosage (BA), and interaction of contact time and adsorbent dosage (CA)
Factors and Response Goal Importance Value also showed negative quadratic effect on the BOD and COD removal
SBAC dose (g/L) In range 3 0.5–1.1
efficiency.
pH In range 3 3–7
Contact time (min) In range 3 60–100 3.6. Interactive effects of SBAC dose, pH and contact time on adsorption
COD removal (%) Maximum 5 94.16 processes
BOD removal (%) Maximum 5 95.23

3D surface plots (Fig. 2) presenting the interaction effect among AB,

COD decrease. This means that the COD of wastewater could be
decreased by working at SBAC dosage and contact time closed to their
higher limits of the studied interval. Moreover, the negative sign of pH
coefficient indicated that working at lower pH could improve the
removal of COD at the end of the treatment process. The p values for A,
B, C, AB, AC, A2, B2, and C2 were highly significant (p value lower than
0.005). This implies that these factors contribute significantly towards
removal of COD during the adsorption. Based on the model developed
for removal efficiency of BOD and COD, the most dominant parameter is
the contact time (C) followed by the adsorbent dosage (A) with a posi­
tive effect for COD removal, then the solution pH (B) but with a negative
effect on the BOD and COD removal. Pure quadratic (A2, B2 and C2) also
AC and BC against the response aid in understanding the meaning of the
effects of parameter combinations. This study reveals that the effects of
interactions for SBAC dose, pH and contact time are very important to
explain the effectiveness of SBAC in removing COD and BOD from textile
effluents. The data given in Fig. 2 shows that an increase in SBAC dose
and contact time results in incrementally higher removal of both COD
and BOD. Nevertheless, increased pH values tend to decrease the
removal of COD and BOD due to a deficiency in H+ ion concentration.
An increased contact time beyond 80 min and SBAC dose greater than
0.8 g/L do not show a substantial increase in removal by the adsorbent
since the pores of the adsorbent reached saturation and sludge formed.
Additionally, a pH less than 4 had a similar effect on the removal of BOD
and COD. It was shown that these three parameters determined the

Fig. 3. COD and BOD removal with respect to time (a) and data fitting to psedo-first order kinetics approch (b).

7
S.M. Beyan et al.
performance of the adsorption process. Devi et al. (2008) did experi­
mentation to remove BOD and COD from a coffee processing plant
effluent using a batch mode adsorption method. They found about in­
fluence of adsorbent dose, effluent pH, contact time and stirring rate on
adsorption process.
3.7. RSM optimization and validation of the model
The outcome of this study revealed that at low pH with contact times
longer than 80 min, and an SBAC dose greater than 0.9 g/L, the removal
efficiency of the adsorbent was greater. RSM numerically optimized
values for maximum removal of COD and BOD are given in Table 5.
Under the optimal conditions given in this table, a numerical regression
was done using RSM and aided by Design-Expert 12.0 software to
optimize the adsorption process. The resulting solution, with a desir­
ability of 1, presented optimal values for SBAC dose (0.915 g/L), pH
(3.225) and contact time (98.91 min) yielding 96.13% COD and 96.74%
BOD removal. Additionally, triplicate experiments were carried out to
validate the model. The experiment conducted at optimum conditions
showed (94.75% COD and 95.49% BOD) good agreement with the
predicted values.
3.8. Kinetics of BOD and COD removal
The design of the experiments coupled with RSM were applied in this
study for removal of BOD and COD from textile wastewater. A first order
kinetics model was employed to determine the rate constants (kp) for
BOD and COD removal. Statistically optimized parameters from the RSM
analysis (dose of SBAC, 0.915 g/L and pH value, 3.225) were adopted
from the experiments to accomplish the kinetics analysis. In this context,
various experiments were done with different contact times (0–100
min). The percent removal of BOD and COD with respect to the different
contact times is presented in Fig. 3(a). Using the experimental data, plots
of ln[Cpi/(Cpi − Cpt)] vs time were generated and are presented in Fig. 3
(b). The linear fitness of the data was examined based on statistical
measure (using the correlation coefficient [R value]) of how close the
data are to the fitted linear regression line. The R value for BOD and COD
removal were observed to be 0.9677 and 0.9819, respectively, which
sound good. So, the determined kp value has been expressed as the rate
of removal of BOD/COD with respect to time (within the optimal time).
These values indicate the fitness and suitability of the first-order
kinetics model for BOD/COD removal processes within the optimal
contact time. However, based on R value, the experimental data used in
the first order kinetics model fitted the data for COD removal slightly
better. According to the first order kinetics model, the rate constant
values for BOD and COD removal were 0.0225 and 0.023 mg/L min− 1,
respectively. These results are supported by Arbib et al. (2014), who
studied the kinetics of organic load removal from wastewaters. Trapp
et al. (2007) also used the applicability of kinetics models to investigate
bioremediation of pollutants from contaminated soils and waters.
4. Conclusions
This study focused on development of a process model followed by
optimization of the removal of BOD and COD from a textile wastewater
effluent using sugarcane bagasse activated carbon (SBAC). The inde­
pendent process variables, adsorbent dose, reaction pH, and reaction
time were considered and statistically optimized for the maximum
removal of BOD and COD using RSM technique. The optimal values were
SBAC dose of 0.915 g/L, pH value of 3.225 and contact time of 98.91
min. Pseudo-first order kinetics showed that the rate constants for BOD
and COD removal were 0.0225 and 0.023 mg/L min− 1, respectively.
Submission declaration
The authors assure that this work has not been published/submitted
8
Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664
previously.
Role of the funding source
Not applicable.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Author Contribution
Surafel Mustefa Beyan Experimentation and draft preparation
Sundramurthy Venkatesa Prabhu Experimental plan and final formatting
drafting
Tsegaye Sissay T and Abraham Kinetics and characterization
Getahun A
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
FTIR and XRD data were provided in supplementary material sec­
tion. Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2021.100664.
References
Ahmad, A.A., Hameed, B.H., 2009. Reduction of COD and color of dyeing effluent from a
cotton textile mill by adsorption onto bamboo-based activated carbon. J. Hazard.
Mater. 172, 1538–1543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.08.025.
Ahmad, K.S., Amjad, I., Ali, D., 2020. Adsorption and sugarcane-bagasse-derived
activated carbon-based mitigation of 1-[2-(2-chloroethoxy)phenyl]sulfonyl-3-(4-
methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) urea-contaminated soils. Open Chem. 18,
1433–1443. https://doi.org/10.1515/chem-2020-0185.
Ajinomoh, C.S., Salahudeen, N., 2014. Production of activated carbon from sugar cane
bagasse. Aust. J. Ind. Res. 1, 16–22.
Akl, M.A., 2014. Efficient removal of phenol from water samples using sugarcane bagasse
based activated carbon. J. Anal. Bioanal. Tech. 5 https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-
9872.1000189.
Alkaya, E., Demirer, G.N., 2014. Sustainable textile production: a case study from a
woven fabric manufacturing mill in Turkey. J. Clean. Prod. 65, 595–603. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.008.
Arbib, Z., Ruiz, J., Álvarez-Díaz, P., Garrido-Pérez, C., Perales, J.A., 2014. Capability of
different microalgae species for phytoremediation processes: wastewater tertiary
treatment, CO2 bio-fixation and low cost biofuels production. Water Res. 49,
465–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.10.036.
Chaiwon, T., Jannoey, P., Channei, D., 2017. Preparation of activated carbon from
sugarcane bagasse waste for the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of basic dye.
Key Eng. Mater. 751, 671–676. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/
KEM.751.671.
Chen, C.-X., Huang, B., Li, T., Wu, G.-F., 2012. Preparation of phosphoric acid activated
carbon from sugarcane bagasse by mechanochemical processing. BioResources 7,
5109–5116. https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.7.4.5109-5116.
Cueva-Orjuela, J.C., Hormaza-Anaguano, A.D.S., Merino-Restrepo, A., 2017. Sugarcane
bagasse and its potential use for the textile effluent treatment. DYNA 84, 291–297.
https://doi.org/10.15446/dyna.v84n203.61723.
Danish, M., Ahmad, T., Majeed, S., Ahmad, M., Ziyang, L., Pin, Z., Shakeel Iqubal, S.M.,
2018. Use of banana trunk waste as activated carbon in scavenging methylene blue
dye: kinetic, thermodynamic, and isotherm studies. Bioresour. Technol. Reports 3,
127–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2018.07.007.
Dao, T.M., Le Luu, T., 2020. Synthesis of activated carbon from macadamia nutshells
activated by H2SO4 and K2CO3 for methylene blue removal in water. Bioresour.
Technol. Reports 12, 100583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2020.100583.
Devi, R., Singh, V., Kumar, A., 2008. COD and BOD reduction from coffee processing
wastewater using Avacado peel carbon. Bioresour. Technol. 99, 1853–1860. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2007.03.039.
Drumond Chequer, F.M., de Oliveira, G.A.R., Anastacio Ferraz, E.R., Carvalho, J., Boldrin
Zanoni, M.V., de Oliveir, D.P., 2013. Textile Dyes: Dyeing Process and
Environmental Impact, in: Eco-Friendly Textile Dyeing and Finishing. InTech.
https://doi.org/10.5772/53659.
Franson, M.A.H., 1998. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,
20th ed. Amer Public Health Assn, Washington, D.C.
Ge, M., Du, M., Zheng, L., Wang, B., Zhou, X., Jia, Z., Hu, G., Jahangir Alam, S.M., 2017.
A maleic anhydride grafted sugarcane bagasse adsorbent and its performance on the
S.M. Beyan et al.
removal of methylene blue from related wastewater. Mater. Chem. Phys. 192,
147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2017.01.063.
Isik, Z., Arikan, E.B., Bouras, H.D., Dizge, N., 2019. Bioactive ultrafiltration membrane
manufactured from Aspergillus carbonarius M333 filamentous fungi for treatment of
real textile wastewater. Bioresour. Technol. Reports 5, 212–219. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.biteb.2019.01.020.
Kan, Y., Yue, Q., Li, D., Wu, Y., Gao, B., 2017. Preparation and characterization of
activated carbons from waste tea by H 3 PO 4 activation in different atmospheres for
oxytetracycline removal. J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng. 71, 494–500. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.jtice.2016.12.012.
Katheresan, V., Kansedo, J., Lau, S.Y., 2018. Efficiency of various recent wastewater dye
removal methods: a review. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 6, 4676–4697. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.jece.2018.06.060.
Kaushik, A., Basu, S., Singh, K., Batra, V.S., Balakrishnan, M., 2017. Activated carbon
from sugarcane bagasse ash for melanoidins recovery. J. Environ. Manag. 200,
29–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.05.060.
Kidus Tekleab, W., Beyan, S.M., Balakrishnan, S., Admassu, H., 2020. Chicken feathers
based Keratin extraction process data analysis using response surface-box-Behnken
design method and characterization of keratin product. Curr. Appl. Sci. Technol. 20,
163–177. https://doi.org/10.14456/cast.2020.6.
Kim, D.-S., 2004. Activated carbon from peach stones using phosphoric acid activation at
medium temperatures. J. Environ. Sci. Heal. Part A 39, 1301–1318. https://doi.org/
10.1081/ESE-120030333.
Kumar, A., Jena, H.M., 2016. Preparation and characterization of high surface area
activated carbon from Fox nut (Euryale ferox) shell by chemical activation with H 3
PO 4. Results Phys. 6, 651–658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2016.09.012.
Kumar, V., Singh, J., Nadeem, M., Kumar, P., Pathak, V.V., 2020. Experimental and
kinetics studies for biogas production using water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes
[Mart.] Solms) and sugar mill effluent. Waste and Biomass Valorization 11, 109–119.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0412-9.
Lellis, B., Fávaro-Polonio, C.Z., Pamphile, J.A., Polonio, J.C., 2019. Effects of textile dyes
on health and the environment and bioremediation potential of living organisms.
Biotechnol. Res. Innov. 3, 275–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biori.2019.09.001.
Ma, Y., Huang, M., Wan, J., Hu, K., Wang, Y., Zhang, H., 2011. Hybrid artificial neural
network genetic algorithm technique for modeling chemical oxygen demand
removal in anoxic/oxic process. J. Environ. Sci. Heal. Part A 46, 574–580. https://
doi.org/10.1080/10934529.2011.562821.
Manohari, Singh, J., Kadapakkam Nandabalan, Y., 2017. Copper(II) bioremoval by a
rhizosphere bacterium, stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila MYS1-process
optimization by RSM using Box–Behnken design. Int. J. Environ. Res. 11, 63–70.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-017-0007-5.
Mistar, E.M., Alfatah, T., Supardan, M.D., 2020. Synthesis and characterization of
activated carbon from Bambusa vulgaris striata using two-step KOH activation.
J. Mater. Res. Technol. 9, 6278–6286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2020.03.041.
Mohamed, E.F., El-Hashemy, M.A., Abdel-Latif, N.M., Shetaya, W.H., 2015. Production
of sugarcane bagasse-based activated carbon for formaldehyde gas removal from
Bioresource Technology Reports 14 (2021) 100664
potted plants exposure chamber. J. Air Waste Manage. Assoc. 65, 1413–1420.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2015.1100141.
Mpatani, F.M., Aryee, A.A., Kani, A.N., Wen, K., Dovi, E., Qu, L., Li, Z., Han, R., 2020.
Removal of methylene blue from aqueous medium by citrate modified bagasse:
kinetic, Equilibrium and Thermodynamic study. Bioresour. Technol. Reports 11,
100463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2020.100463.
Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Guzik, M., Kenny, S.T., Babu, R., Werker, A., O Connor, K.E.,
2013. Carbon-Rich Wastes as Feedstocks for Biodegradable Polymer
(Polyhydroxyalkanoate) Production Using Bacteria, pp. 139–200. https://doi.org/
10.1016/B978-0-12-407673-0.00004-7.
Oyebamiji, O.O., Boeing, W.J., Holguin, F.O., Ilori, O., Amund, O., 2019. Green
microalgae cultured in textile wastewater for biomass generation and
biodetoxification of heavy metals and chromogenic substances. Bioresour. Technol.
Reports 7, 100247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2019.100247.
Patel, H., Vashi, R.T., 2015. Characterization and Treatment of Textile Wastewater.
Characterization and Treatment of Textile Wastewater. Elsevier. https://doi.org/
10.1016/C2014-0-02395-7.
Saad, S.A., Isa, K.M., Bahari, R., 2010. Chemically modified sugarcane bagasse as a
potentially low-cost biosorbent for dye removal. Desalination 264, 123–128. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2010.07.015.
Silveira, M.H.L., Chandel, A.K., Vanelli, B.A., Sacilotto, K.S., Cardoso, E.B., 2018.
Production of hemicellulosic sugars from sugarcane bagasse via steam explosion
employing industrially feasible conditions: pilot scale study. Bioresour. Technol.
Reports 3, 138–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2018.07.011.
Sundramurthy, V.P., Rajoo, B., Srinivasan, N.R., Kavitha, R., 2020. Bioleaching of Zn
from sphalerite using Leptospirillum ferriphilum isolate: effect of temperature and
kinetic aspects. Appl. Biol. Chem. 63 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13765-020-00528-8.
Tahir, H., Sultan, M., Akhtar, N., Hameed, U., Abid, T., 2016. Application of natural and
modified sugar cane bagasse for the removal of dye from aqueous solution. J. Saudi
Chem. Soc. 20, S115–S121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jscs.2012.09.007.
Tetteh, E.K., Rathilal, S., 2017. Application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) -
Reduction of Industrial Wastewater Chemical Oxygen Demand. CBU Int. Conf. Proc.
5, pp. 1226–1232. https://doi.org/10.12955/cbup.v5.1101.
Trapp, S., Ücisik, A.S., Romano, P.D., Larsen, M., 2007. The Role of Plants and Bacteria in
Phytoremediation - Kinetic Aspects, in: Bioremediation of Soils Contaminated with
Aromatic Compounds. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 41–49. https://doi.org/
10.1007/978-1-4020-5693-2_4.
Venkatesa Prabhu, S., Baskar, R., 2015. Kinetics of heavy metal biosolubilization from
electroplating sludge: effects of sulfur concentration. J. Korean Soc. Appl. Biol.
Chem. 58, 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13765-015-0027-9.
Venkatesa, P.S., Girma, G., Gizachew, A.K., Surafel .G,.R., B.M., 2019. Biosolubilization
of Cr (VI) from tannery sludge: process modeling, optimization, rate kinetics and
thermodynamics aspects. Int. J. Recent Technol. Eng. 8, 4808–4816. https://doi.
org/10.35940/ijrte.d7771.118419.
Yaseen, D.A., Scholz, M., 2019. Textile dye wastewater characteristics and constituents
of synthetic effluents: a critical review. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 1193–1226.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2130-z.