The Efficiency of Inactive Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Biomass on Removing Arsenic from Aqueous Solutions

Arsenic is a common toxic element that is mainly transported in the environment by water. Arsenic in drinking water is of major concern to many of the water utilities in the world. Therefore, the objective of this study was selected biosorption of arsenic by inactive Saccharomyces cerevisiae as low-cost biological adsorbent from aqueous solution.This experimental study was performed in laboratory scale and was performed on 243 synthetic samples in a batch system. In this study the effect of parameters such as contact time (5,15,30,60,120,min and 24 h), pH (5,7,9), fluoride concentration (100, 250, 500, 750,1000 µg/l) and absorbent dosages (0.5,1,2/5,5g/l) was evaluated. Finally biosorption kinetic and equilibrium isotherms of adsorbent was investigated. The removal efficiency of inactive Saccharomyces cerevisiae was 89.49% at pH 5, adsorbent dose of 1g/L and initial metal concentration of 100 mg/L. Maximum uptake was observed after the Contact time of 60 minutes. In addition absorption isotherm followed pseudo-second order model with a maximum R2 = 0.999. The results of study showed that biosorption efficiency decreases with increase in pH of solution. Optimum pH of biosorption was 5. The Removal efficiency of arsenic enhanced with increase in mass of Saccharomyces cerevisiae up to 1 g/L, but The Removal efficiency decreased with increase in initial concentration of arsenic. Maximum absorption was observed in 15 minutes.