Taguchi’s Optimization Technique for Phenol Adsorption using Cotton Stalk Activated Carbon

This work demonstrates the utilization of the method of design of experiment as conceptualized by Taguchi to maximize the process variables for the adsorption of phenol from hydrous solution using the adsorbent of activated carbon prepared from cotton stalk (ACCSW). Results obtained presented the influence of multiple variables such as the AC- CSWdose (m), phenol-concentration (C?), ambient-temperature (T), and the contact-time (t) on the response variable or character, adsorption capacity (q?) at three levels using L? orthogonal array (OA) array, which in turn was examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA) on primary datasetset and Sound /Noice (S/N) ratio data using the 'larger is better' characteristic. Analysis of the ANOVA result obtained reveals that factor B (C?) and A (m) are the most significant factors with a total of 45.21% and 47.84% contribution, respectively. The D (t) and C (T) factors are the least significant factors with a total of 4.18% and 2.77% contribution, respectively. The percent removal of phenol was noted to be 91.53% with an maximum uptake of 68.65 mg/g.