Abstract

Biosorption is a technique that can be used for the removal of pollutants from waters. A variety of biomaterials are known to bind these pollutants, including bacteria, fungi, algae, and industrial and agricultural wastes. In this work, the biosoption abilities of plantain pseudo stem towards crude oil are emphasized. Experimental and theoretical approach was used to monitor and predict the rate of biosorption using plantain pseudo stem obtained from Erema town in Ogba/Egbema/Nndoni Local Government Area of Nigeria. The rate of adsorption of Bonny light crude oil by plantain pseudo stem as adsorbent of different thicknesses were used for the process for which it was observed that the adsorbent of 1 cm thickness agreed very closely with  theoretical data. Thus, this article revealed that plantain stem is useful in enhancing effective remediation of oil polluted water environment.

Key words: Modeling, biosorption, crude oil, water, plantain pseudo stem, adsorbent.