Abstract
The sorption capability of zirconium coupled sodium alginate beads of steam activated biochar derived from date seed (Zr(DSPB)Al) was explored towards Ibuprofen (IBP) removal from simulated water solution in a static bed column. The impact of governing variables viz. column bed height (5-25 cm), influent (IBP) concentration (10-30 mg L-1) and inflow rate (2-6 mL min-1) was investigated in the present study. The column experimentation reflected that with an increase in column bed length, the breakthrough curve height was increased. The maximum sorbent uptake was found to be 23.33 mg g-1 from an optimal column bed height of 20 cm, influent (IBP) concentration of 30 mg L-1 and inflow rate of 2 mL min-1 with the achievement of 94.86% of IBP removal. The bed depth service model (BDST) was studied to examine the sorbent's efficacy and it was observed that column bed height was one of the effective factors towards effective IBP sorption. The Yoon-Nelson model and Thomas model corroborated extremely well with the experimental findings. The desorption study presented a sorbent efficiency up to 5 cycles for IBP exclusion with 37.59% regeneration of the column. The investigation indicated that the novel sorbent Zr(DSPB)Al with proficient performance could be successfully applied for IBP elimination from aqueous solutions.