Adsorption of Crude Oil in Aqueous Medium Using Dried Plantain (Musa Paradisiaca) Leaves and Peels

Adsorption of crude oil in aqueous media using dried plantain (Musa paradisiaca) peels (PP) and plantain leaves (PL) was studied. Effect of particle size, dosage, contact time, initial crude oil concentration in terms of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and effect of microbial count were investigated. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were employed to analyse the experimental data. The results showed that the higher the particle size for both adsorbents PP and PL the higher the adsorption in a reverse adsorption phenomenon and particle size of 800μm (0.8mm), gave optimal result. Adsorption increased with dosage until equilibrium saturation was achieved. 2.0g was the optimum dosage obtained at equilibrium for both PP and PL. Adsorption increased with reduction in crude oil concentration, PP and PL recorded 98.84% and 99.07% respectively for initial crude oil concentration of 5207.74mg/L, TOC. Crude oil adsorption increased sharply within 10 minutes contact time, equilibrium was achieved in 120 minutes for both PP and PL with an optimum result of 99% crude oil adsorbed. Result showed an increment in microbial count in the aqueous medium of PL and crude oil after 24 hours incubation process. The Temkin adsorption model with a regression coefficient of 0.9919 provided the best fit to the experimental data compared to the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Therefore, based on the results obtained, these adsorbents have the potential of being an efficient tool for remediation in attempting to resolve the age long challenge of crude oil spillage/pollution in aqueous medium.