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Vol. 37 No. 11 (2025): Vol 37 Issue 11, 2025

Copyright (c) 2025 Gugulethu Emmerencia Ngcobo, Siphesihle Mangena Khumalo, Babatunde Femi Bakare, Sudesh Rathilal

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Treatment of Oily Wastewater Using Chitosan as Biosorbent: Biosorbent Synthesis and Kinetic Models Evaluation

https://doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2025.34393
G.E. Ngcobo
Green Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 121 Steve Biko, Musgrave, Durban, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4268-5662
S.M. Khumalo
Green Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 121 Steve Biko, Musgrave, Durban, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4486-3663
B.F. Bakare
Green Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 121 Steve Biko, Musgrave, Durban, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1521-682X
S. Rathilal
Green Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 121 Steve Biko, Musgrave, Durban, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4677-5309

Corresponding Author(s) : S.M. Khumalo

SiphesihleK1@dut.ac.za

Asian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 37 No. 11 (2025): Vol 37 Issue 11, 2025

Abstract

The discharge of untreated oily wastewater is a serious environmental concern, as it contaminates water bodies, threatens aquatic life and disrupts ecosystems. The present study investigates the effectiveness of synthesized oyster-derived chitosan as a biosorbent for the removal of phenol, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and colour from raw oily wastewater emanating from a petrochemical refinery plant. The study recorded 98% phenol, 94% COD and 92% colour reduction at pH 7, contact time of 90 min and adsorbent dose of 9 g/L. Adsorption kinetic studies suggest that the uptake of phenol follows the pseudo-second order kinetic model, COD uptake follows the pseudo-first order (PFO) kinetic model and colour reduction follows the fractal-like PFO kinetic model. Based on the kinetic studies, it was suggested that the treatment of oily wastewater using chitosan is a complex process that involves both chemical and physical adsorption mechanisms.

Keywords

Oyster chitosan Mussel chitosan Biosorbent Fractal-like kinetic models Oily wastewater Phenol Colour
(1)
Ngcobo, G.; Khumalo, S.; Bakare, B.; Rathilal, S. Treatment of Oily Wastewater Using Chitosan As Biosorbent: Biosorbent Synthesis and Kinetic Models Evaluation. ajc 2025, 37, 2865-2875.
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