A Comparative Study of the Adsorption Capacity of Tea Leaves and Orange Peel for the Removal of Fe (III) Ion from Wastewater

Adsorption is a very promising and interesting technique for removal of heavy metal ions. In this study orange peel and waste tea leaves were used as low cost adsorbents for removal of iron (III) ion from wastewater. Batch adsorption studies were employed to investigate the influence of pH, time, doges and initial metal ion concentration. The maximum removal capacity of orange peel and waste tea leaves were observed at pH 9 for iron (III) removal. For both adsorbents 75 min was required in order to achieve equilibrium for the adsorption of Fe (III) ion. The influence of adsorbent dose was checked by using different dosage of adsorbents. Adsorption parameters were investigated by using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. The removal of Fe (III) ion by using both adsorbents moderately fit the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. From the result it was observed that the adsorption capacity of waste tea leaves is higher than orange peel.