Process optimization for Ni(II) removal from wastewater by calcined oyster shell powders using Taguchi method.

Waste oyster shells cause great environmental concerns and nickel is a harmful heavy metal. Therefore, we applied the Taguchi method to take care of both issues by optimizing the controllable factors for Ni(II) removal by calcined oyster shell powders (OSP), including the pH (P), OSP calcined temperature (T), Ni(II) concentration (C), OSP dose (D), and contact time (t). The results show that their percentage contribution in descending order is P (64.3%) > T (18.9%) > C (8.8%) > D (5.1%) > t (1.7%). The optimum condition is pH of 10 and OSP calcined temperature of 900 °C. Under the optimum condition, the Ni(II) can be removed almost completely; the higher the pH, the more the precipitation; the higher the calcined temperature, the more the adsorption. The latter is due to the large number of porosities created at the calcination temperature of 900 °C. The porosities generate a large amount of cavities which significantly increase the surface area for adsorption. A multiple linear regression equation obtained to correlate Ni(II) removal with the controllable factors is: Ni(II) removal(%) = 10.35 × P + 0.045 × T - 1.29 × C + 19.33 × D + 0.09 × t - 59.83. This equation predicts Ni(II) removal well and can be used for estimating Ni(II) removal during the design stage of Ni(II) removal by calcined OSP. Thus, OSP can be used to remove nickel effectively and the formula for removal prediction is developed for practical applications.