Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Approach for Matchstick Industries using Agro-Based Bio-Adsorbents

IJEP 45(11): 1031-1039 : Vol. 45 Issue. 11 (November 2025)

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B. Praburajan, R. Bhuvanika, V. Nandhini Devi and A. Tarani

Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Department of Civil Engineering, Sivakasi – 626 005, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The aim of this research is to develop a low-cost method for removing contaminants from matchstick industry wastewater. The wastewater effluent was collected from an industry in Sattur, Tamil Nadu, India. A low-cost bio-adsorbent was used to remove ammonia and nitrate. This study suggests that rice husk and coconut shell activated with KOH serve as a novel, efficient, sustainable and readily available adsorbent capable of absorbing nitrate and ammonia. Adsorbent dosage and contact time were optimized through batch experiments. Micro-level analysis of the adsorbent materials was conducted using SEM/EDX, FTIR and XRD to understand the adsorption process. The maximum removal efficiency was achieved at an optimal dosage of 2.5 g/L and a contact time of 30 min. Adsorption kinetics were analyzed using pseudo first order and pseudo second order models, with the higher correlation coefficient (R2) indicating that the pseudo second order model better describes the process. The R2 values for rice husk and coconut shell are 0.96189 and 0.93903, respectively. Isotherm studies using Langmuir and Freundlich models were performed, with the higher R2 values for the Langmuir model being 0.99322 for rice husk and 0.99922 for coconut shell. Both adsorbents demonstrated effective capacity for removing the target substances.

Keywords

Matchstick industry wastewater, Rice husk, Coconut shell, Adsorbent, Adsorption

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