AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON REMOVAL OF

HIGH CONCENTRATED AGENTS FROM WASTE WATER

USING RICE HUSK

Under the guidance of

Mr. T. PRAVEEN SAGAR , M.Tech
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
NSRIT

Submitted by,
B.MONISHA VARA LAKSHMI (16NU5A0105)
SK.LAL JOHN BASHA (16NU5A0114)
P.PAVAN (16NU5A0112)
D.PAVAN SAI VARMA (15NU1A0101)
CONTENTS:
 Abstract.
 Introduction.
 Necessity of the project.
 Techniques Available.
 Literature Review.
 Methodology.
 Results and Conclusions
 References.

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ABSTRACT:
In this proposed work, adsorption method has been used for the Removal of
irresistible metals such as Cu, Zn & Pb from water using Rice Husk.
Rice husk has rich accessibility in INDIA
95-100% the substantial metals from water can be Removed.
Rice husk is set up into two kinds of adsorbents in this examination,
 The first adsorbent is acquired by forming the rice husk into little particles
under a size of 355Dm.
 The second adsorbent is set up by consuming perfect rice husk in mute
heater and treating it with citrus extract.

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INTRODUCTION:
Inputs : water from laboratory waste
Output : Removal of Heavy metals.
Adsorbent material: Rice Husk.

Waste water disposal containing heavy metals

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NECESSITY - REMOVAL OF HEAVY METALS:

Heavy metals and living systems: An overview. Indian journal of pharmacology.

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TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE – for removal of heavy metals:
 Many techniques are adopted for the • Sedimentation
• Screening
decontamination of heavy metals from
• Filtration
water. PHYSICAL
METHODS • Membrane separation
• Physical • Coagulation
• Chemical precipitation
• Chemical
• Ion exchange
• Biological CHEMICAL
METHODS • Adsorption
• Neutralization
• Solvent extraction

BIOLOGICAL
• Aerobic
METHODS • Anaerobic

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Contd…..,
 The main disadvantage of these methods is
 high cost,
 low efficiency,
 labor intense operations,
 lack of selectivity.
 The new technique is of low cost, abundant in nature, has high potential for
removal of heavy metals.
 The adsorbents used in this method are basically in-expensive adsorbent
material obtained from agricultural waste materials or from the by-products
of other industries.

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Rice Husk as an adsorption material
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LITERATURE REVIEW:
 The rice husk has high potential for removal of heavy metals like Cu, Zn, Pb
in terms of its adsorption capacity, binding mechanisms, experimental
conditions and pretreatment methods (Okoro & Okoro, 2011).
The survey shows that the rice husk has an equal or even greater adsorption
capacity compared to other conventional adsorbents. In future it is expected to
replace the traditional adsorbents used for decontaminating heavy metals from
water as it has great advantages such as high efficiency even with low metal
concentrations, low cost, no additional nutrients requirements, and easy
operation (Boota et al., 2009; LA sheen et al., 2012; Osman et al.,2010).

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
 To determine the Chemical Composition of rice husks.
 To establish optimized conditions and potentiality of rice husks for removing
Cu(II),Zn(II),and Pb(II) ions from synthetically prepared effluent.
 To study the effects of pH, time and initial concentration of metals on Cu(II),
Zn (II) and Pb (II) adsorption.
 To predict removal efficiency of rice husk.

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ADSORBENT -1:

Grounded rice husk

Fig.1 :355 µm sieve, used for sieving sample(powdered rice husk)

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ADSORBENT-2

Carbonized Rice Husk

Fig2: Muffle Furnace Fig3:Rice Husk After Treatment

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METHODOLOGY:
 100 ml of a solution containing Cu(II), Zn(II),
and Pb (II) [1ppm to 20ppm] is taken.
 This solution is to be added with the adsorbent
and stirred continuously at 250 rpm speed.
 Electromagnetic stirrer is used for stirring
(shown in fig.5) for 24 hours at 40 degree
constant temperature.

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Contd..,
The sample is filtered and final
concentration of metals is measured
Perkin-Elmer Model Analyst 200
atomic Adsorption Spectrometer shown
in fig-4 helps in measuring the
concentration

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RICE HUSK - CHARACTERIZATION

The Morphological Characteristics of rice

husks are evaluated by using a scanning
electron microscope as shown in fig-6.

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ADSORBENT-1 (GROUNDED RICE HUSK)

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X-RAY SPECTRUM OF RICE HUSKS (ADSORBENT-1)

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ADSORBENT-2: (CARBONIZED RICE HUSK)
 The purpose of this work is to
improve textural parameters of
carbons obtained from the rice husk
100g.
 carbonized rice husks were soaked in
0.6M of citric acid for 2 hours at
20°C.
 Acid husk slurry is dried overnight at
50°C and the dried husks are heated to
120°C under aerobic conditions

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Contd..,
This is the X-ray
showing fluorescence
spectrum of rice husk
adsorbent-2

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X-RAY SPECTRUM OF RICE HUSK (ADSORBENT-2)

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RESULTS FOR GROUNDED
RICE HUSK

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EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND RESULTS:
Adsorption on grounded rice husk: Initial Final
Qe %Removal
 A series of adsorption Conc. Conc.
(mg/g) Zn
experiment were conducted to (mg/l) (mg/l)
establish the isotherms for Pb, Cu, Zn 1.033 0.135 0.089 86.63
adsorption on grounded rice husk
 The amount of metal absorbed per unit 2.589 0.144 0.2445 94.43
mass is calculated as: Qe =(Ci-Cf)V/m
3.079 0.028 0.3051 99.09
 Where Ci and Cf are the initial and
final concentration (mg/l),m is mass of 3.733 0.14 0.359 96.24
adsorbent, V is the volume of the
solution (m3) 4.778 0.773 0.4005 83.82

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% REMOVAL OF Zn VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION FOR
GROUNDED RICE HUSK

• Increase in initial concentration of

heavy metals in the solution shows
a gradual increase then decrease
after the pick in the adsorption
capacity of adsorbent material.

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% REMOVAL OF Pb VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION
FOR GROUNDED RICE HUSK
Initial Final
Qe %Removal
Conc. Conc.
(mg/g) Pb
(mg/l) (mg/l)
0.179 0.093 0.0086 48.044
2.348 0.508 0.184 78.36
2.567 0.267 0.230 89.59

4.212 0.198 0.4095 95.29

4.729 0.117 0.4531 97.52

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% REMOVAL OF Cu VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION FOR
GROUNDED RICE HUSK
Initial Final Qe %
Conc. Conc. (mg/g) Removal
(mg/l) (mg/l) Cu
0.889 0.059 0.083 93.36
2.307 0.420 0.188 81.79
3.271 0.468 0.280 85.69
3.624 1.312 0.231 63.79
4.762 0.969 0.3793 79.65

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% REMOVAL OF Zn, Pb, Cu VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION
FOR GROUNDED RICE HUSK
The graphs shows comparison
among the adsorption capacity for
removing heavy metals Zn, Cu and
Pb. The adsorption capacity of the
material decreases in order
Pb>Zn>Cu.

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PH VS REMOVAL (QE) - GROUNDED RICE HUSK
pH Initial Final Qe
Conc. Conc. (mg/g)
(mg/l) (mg/l)

2 0.891 0.677 0.0107

3 0.347 0.0646 0.1412

4 0.466 0.02282 0.2216

5 0.636 0.1824 0.2268

6 0.458 0.0406 0.2087

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RESULTS FOR CARBODIZED
RICE HUSK

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% REMOVAL OF Zn VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION
FOR CARBODIZED RICE HUSK
The graph shows the gradual
increase in the adsorption
capacity of the material with
increase in initial concentration
of Zn.

Fig showing graph of initial concentration of Zn vs. its % removal in

carbonized rice husk

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% REMOVAL OF Pb VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION
FOR CARBODIZED RICE HUSK

The graph shows the gradual

increase in the adsorption
capacity of the material with
increase in initial concentration
of Pb.

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% REMOVAL OF Cu VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION
FOR CARBODIZED RICE HUSK
The graph shows the gradual
increase in the adsorption capacity
of the material with increase in
initial concentration of Cu.

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% REMOVAL OF Zn, Pb, Cu VS INITIAL CONCENTRATION
FOR CARBODIZED RICE HUSK

Initial % Pb % Cu % Zn
Conc. Removal Removal Removal
(mg/l)

5 89.34 86.55 88.93

7 91.34 89.22 89.99

9 93.78 90.68 91.22

14 95.03 94.04 94.98

20 97.67 96.31 97.91

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CONCLUSIONS:
 The chemical characterization obtained from the analysis of scanning electron
microscope of rice husk shows
 carbon and silica content in the grounded rice husk as 47.28% and 3.73%,
respectively.
 The results show carbon, oxygen and silica content in carbonized rice husk
as 8.52%, 36.27% and 43.41%, respectively.
 After the chemical characterization, the material was used for removing Zn,
Cu and Pb from laboratory prepared effluents.
 Project is done under optimized conditions such as constant temperature of 40
degree centigrade, speed of stirring action as 250rpm for 24 hours, 1g of
adsorbent per each 100ml solution of heavy metals.

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THE RESULTS ARE SUMMARIZED AS:
 Adsorption capacity for grounded rice husk - Pb > Zn > Cu.
 Adsorption capacity for carbonized rice husk Zn > Pb > Cu.
 Adsorption capacity of grounded rice husk increases with increases pH.
 Longer Waiting Time More is the adsorption capacity.
 Higher initial concentration of metals increases adsorption capacity.
 Carbonated rice husk and grounded rice husk demonstrated higher potential to
remove relatively all selected heavy metals.
 After 48 hours it will leave a negligible amount of metals in the treated water.

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Contd..,
 The efficiency of both the adsorbents in the removal of desired heavy metals
was 95-100%, or nearly 100%.
 The results show the removal efficiency of grounded rice husk for Zn, Pb & Cu
as 99.09%, 97.52% & 93.36 %, respectively.
 The removal efficiency of carbonized rice husk for Pb, Cu & Zn is 96.45%,
96.31% & 96.64%, respectively.
 Removal efficiency of the adsorbent material increases with increase in
duration of stirring action
 As per the observation, removal of Zn from 5ppm solution for 0.5,1,2,3,5,18
hours are 82.37%, 88.32%,90.51%,92.48%,93.98% & 97.19%, respectively.

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REFERENCES:
1. Banerjee, K., Ramesh, S.T., Nidheesh, P.V., Bharathi, K.S., 2012. A novel
agricultural waste adsorbent, watermelon shell for the removal of copper from
aqueous solutions. Iranica J. Energy Environ. 3, 143-156.
2. Kumar, P.S., Ramalingam, S., Sathyaselvabala, V., Kirupha, S.D., Murugesan,
A., Sivanesan, S., 2012. Removal of Cd (II) from aqueous solution by
agricultural waste cashew nut shell. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 29, 756-768.
3. Wan Ngah, W.S., Hanafiah, M.A.K.M., 2008. Removal of heavy metal ions
from Waste water by chemically modified plant wastes as adsorbents: A
review. Bio-resource Technol. 99, 3935-3948.

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