The wastewater produced in a pulp and paper industry is one of the most polluted industrial wastewaters, and therefore its treatment requires complex processes. One of the simple and feasible processes in pulp and paper wastewater treatment is coagulation and flocculation. Overusing a chemical coagulant can produce a large volume of sludge and increase costs and health concerns. Therefore, the use of natural and plant-based coagulants has been recently attracted the attention of researchers. One of the advantages of using Ocimum basilicum as a coagulant is a reduction in the amount of chemical coagulant required. In this study, the effect of basil mucilage has been investigated as a plant-based coagulant together with alum for treatment of paper recycling wastewater. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the process of chemical coagulation based on a central composite rotatable design (CCRD). Quadratic models for colour reduction and TSS removal with coefficients of determination of R> 96 were obtained using the analysis of variance. Under optimal conditions, removal efficiencies of colour and total suspended solids (TSS) were 85% and 82%, respectively.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.