Abstract
The dairy industry produces a significant volume of effluents that contain various pollutants, which causes environmental issues. In this study, the fabrication and performance of nanocomposite filters including activated carbon (AC), calcium alginate (CA), and nanosilica were investigated for the treatment of dairy industry wastewater. This nanocomposite filled a major gap in the use of nanocomposite for dairy wastewater treatment in a simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly approach. The nanoparticles were synthesized using sand extraction in an environmentally friendly approach with a size of 30–45 nm. Several techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the materials. Furthermore, the nanocomposite filter performance and efficiency in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) were assessed through batch experiments. Batch experiments were used to investigate optimum conditions such as the contact time, pH, and nanosilica dosage. The results showed that the nanocomposite filters effectively treat the dairy wastewater, where the percentage of COD removal reached 99.7%. However, the adsorption isotherm, kinetic, and thermodynamic studies were carried out and the best-fitted models of isotherm, and kinetic models were Langmuir, and pseudo-second-order reaction, respectively. The thermodynamic reaction of this study is related to being endothermic. Results were discussed to reveal that the integration of the Water-Food-Environment (WEFE) NEXUS was successfully achieved.