The Effect of the Operational Parameters on Turbidity Removal Using Peanut Cake as Primary Coagulant

Abstract

The drawbacks associated with traditional chemical coagulants used in water treatment, such as health-related and environmental adverse effects, have encouraged the search for natural alternatives, in particular plant-based coagulants. This study investigated the effect on turbidity removal of synthetic turbid water prepared by adding kaolin to distilled water of various operating parameters, namely the initial turbidity of the raw water, rapid mixing time and slow missing time. A plant-based, which was extracted from peanut cake, was used. Using Minitab tools, experiments were planned. Three levels were tested for each of the aforementioned parameters, namely 50, 100 and 150 NTU for initial turbidity; 1, 2 and 3 minutes for rapid mixing; and 15, 20 and 25 minutes for slow mixing. The results showed that the coagulant has a high ability to remove turbidity, with the removal percentage varying from 70% to 95%. A one-way ANOVA showed a significant impact on the turbidity removal of each individual parameter. In addition, it revealed that there was a significant interaction between the initial turbidity and slow mixing time, and that of the rapid mixing time and slow mixing time. On the other hand, significant effect was also shown by the three-way interactions between the three parameters.