Methylene Blue (MB) removal from Aqueous Solution by Alum; Catalytic Ozonation Process

Abstract

The Textile wastewater is among the most polluted types of industrial waste. Wastewater treatment in the textile industries is notoriously difficult because of the use of complex chemicals, Dyes in the textile production steps and conventional methods are not enough to treat these chemicals. Textile wastewater, known for its high pollution levels, poses challenges for treatment due to complex chemicals and dyes. A comparative study was conducted on simple ozonation and catalytic ozonation using alum as a catalyst for degrading methylene blue. Various factors like time, pH, catalyic and ozone dosage were analyzed. Results showed that catalytic activity in ozonation is pH and ozone flow dependent. pH 6.6 and 200V ozone flow achieved maximum methylene blue elimination. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize surface morphology of catalyst, (FTIR) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the important functional groups, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used to characterize the catalyst's elemental composition. Compared to simple ozonation, catalytic ozonation showed higher removal in the initial phase. Real textile wastewater analysis confirmed the effectiveness of alum catalyst in achieving significant removal of methylene blue (87%) through this novel cost-efficient process.