Abstract— Moringa oleifera is a multipurpose tree with

most of its parts being useful for a number of applications.

This study is carried out to investigate the potential of

Moringa oleifera press cake (MOPC) to be used as biosorbent

for Cu (II) ions from water system as a natural,

environmentally friendly biosorbent. Copper and other heavy

metals present in water are harmful and poisonous and need

to be removed from water; using natural biosorbent is one of

the solutions. The synthetic water with 200 NTU was used in

this study to monitor the biosorbent efficiency. The stock

solution of copper with different concentration were added to

synthetic water and different dosages of press cake was added

and the copper concentration before and after addition of the

biosorbent was measured using atomic absorption

spectrometry (AAS). The residual turbidity was measured as

using jar test and reported. The results showed that the

Moringa oleifera press cake is reducing the copper

concentration up to 53.49%, and turbidity removal up to

75.45%. More research need to be carried out to find the

optimum conditions to remove Cu (II) from water.

Keywords—Biosorbent, Copper (II), Moringa oleifera press

cake, Turbidity.

I. INTRODUCTION

Moringa oleifera is a multipurpose tree with most of its

parts being useful for a number of applications (Fig. 1). It is

generally used in a number of developing countries as a

vegetable, medical plant and a source of vegetable oil. It has

an impressive range of medicinal uses with high nutritional

value [1]. On the other hand, Moringa oleifera seeds have

been found to be a natural coagulant, flocculants, softener,

disinfectant, and sludge conditioner [2], [3], [4], heavy metal

remover in water and wastewater treatment [5], [6].

Copper is both an essential nutrient and a drinking water

contaminant. It is an important trace element required by

humans for its role in enzyme synthesis, tissue and bone

development [3]. However, excessive amounts of copper

consumed is toxic and carcinogenic and it leads to its

deposition in the liver and causes many diseases such as

Wilson disease, liver and kidney failure and finally

gastrointestinal bleeding [7].

Eman N. Ali is with the Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources

Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300

Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.

Fig. 1. Moringa oleifera tree

The excessive amounts of Cu (II) in fresh water resources

and aquatic ecosystem damage the osmoregulatory

mechanism of the freshwater animals and cause mutagenesis

in humans [8]. Large quantities of copper are released to the

environment by discarding industrial waste without further

treatment [9]. According to World Health Organization

(WHO) the permissible limit of Cu (II) in water is 1.5 mg/l

[8]. According to the Ministry of Health Malaysia the

acceptable limits of Cu (II) in drinking water should be 1

mg/l [10].

Since Malaysia is widely recognized as one of the centers

of biological diversity, rich with wild plants, it will be

beneficial for the researchers to further screen the valuable

biosorbent. All of these resources could provide renewable

useful products not only for the current generation but also

for the future generations to come. Hence, this study is

initiated to target the miracle tree Moringa oleifera to be used

as a potent biosorbent for Cu (II) ions. To help in finding an

alternative methods to treat water, which could be

economically and environmental friendly techniques.

Copper and other heavy metals present in water are

harmful and poisonous and need to be removed from water;

using natural biosorbent is one of the solutions. Few studies

reported the removal of some heavy metals from water by

Moringa oleifera, however the use of Moringa oleifera press

cake adsorb Cu (II) from water still not too much targeted

and minimally used in this field, thus more research is

needed. Therefore, this project is an investigation of

removing mainly copper from water.

Copper can be produced from electronics plating, paint

manufacturing, wire drawing, copper polishing, and printing

operations. The high presence of copper can cause acute

toxicity, dizziness, diarrhea [8], [10].

Copper is an essential nutrient and a drinking water

contaminant. It is an important element required by humans

in trace amounts, used by human body for enzyme synthesis,

Removal of Copper from Water System using Moringa

oleifera Press Cake

Eman Noori Ali

International Conference on Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ACEE-16) April 18-19, 2016 Istanbul, Turkey

http://dx.doi.org/10.17758/URUAE.AE0416214 15

tissues and bones development [3]. However, the excessive

amount of it, is toxic and carcinogenic. Deposition of copper

in body causes health problems such as Wilson disease, liver

and kidney failure and gastrointestinal bleeding [8]. The

excessive amounts of Cu (II) in fresh water resources and

aquatic ecosystem damage the osmoregulatory mechanism of

the freshwater animals. Large quantities of copper are

released by the disposal of untreated industrial waste [8].

Several conventional methods have been used to remove Cu

(II) from water. Though, the used methods have many

disadvantages. Adsorption by agricultural wastes and natural

biosorbent has more benefits than the conventional methods.

Several biosorbent have been investigated for Cu (II) removal

which include cassava waste [11], wheat shells [12], hazelnut

shells [9], cashew nut shells [13], orange peel [14],

pomegranate peel [15], Grape seeds [7], Cinnamomum

camphora leave’s [16], loquat leaves [17], and Moringa

oleifera wood [18].

Most available methods for heavy metals removal are:

Chemical coagulation, which consumes a large amount of

chemicals (High cost), and activated carbon which cannot be

regenerated, and high cost as well [19].

Inorganic coagulants for water treatment are used in a

wide-range. Aluminum sulphate and activated carbon are

examples of the inorganic coagulants and aluminum

sulphate is the most commonly used coagulant in the

developing countries [20]. However, aluminum sulphate is

reported to cause some neurological diseases for instance

pre-senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. The adsorption

by activated carbon is known to be the most efficient way for

removing heavy metals (removes more than 99% of certain

metal ions), but is still an uneconomical method and cannot

be recycled [21].

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Copper stock solution was purchased from Merck

(Germany), sodium bicarbonate from HmbG Chemicals

(Germany), and Kaolin was purchased from (Sigma-

Aldrich). The press cake was collected from Mitomasa Sdn.

Bhd (Fig.2). Malaysia, it is the residue of mechanical press

for Moringa oleifera seeds (oil extraction process).

Fig. 2. Moringa oleifera press cake.

A. Biosorbent Preparation

Press cake was soaked with water overnight to get the

remaining oil. And the clean press cake was used in this

experimental work. The moisture content was calculated to

get the right mass for the biosorbent added to water.

B. Preparation of Copper (II) Stock Solution

The metal solution used in this study for Cu (II) was

prepared from standard stock solution (1000 mg/l) (Merck).

Few dilutions were prepared from the stock solution to

prepare the multi dilution for calibration curve.

C. Preparation of Synthetic Water

A weight of 5 g of kaolin, laboratory grade (k7375-500G

Sigma- Aldrich), was dissolved with 500 ml of distilled

water. Sodium bicarbonate (Hamburg Chemicals) solution

with concentration of 100 mg/l was prepared by adding 100

mg of sodium bicarbonate to 1000 ml of distilled water;

Adding 500 ml of the sodium bicarbonate solution to the

kaolin. The suspension was stirred for about 1 hour at 200

rpm to achieve a uniform dispersion of kaolin particles. Then

it was left for at least 24 hours for complete hydration of the

kaolin [22]. The synthetic turbid water was used for

biosorption test on Cu (II) removal from water by Moringa

oleifera press cake. This stock was diluted a few times to get

the turbidity needed for each particular test.

D. Biosorption Batch Experiment

The jar test has been designed for use in water treatment to

evaluate coagulation- flocculation processes [23]. The

experiment carried out using Paddle Jar Test apparatus

equipped with six paddles rotating in a set of six beakers

filled with 500 ml of the synthetic water and known quantity

of Cu (II) from stock solution were added to 500 ml of

synthetic water to get the Cu (II) concentration of (1, 3, 5, and

7 ppm). A different dose of Moringa oleifera press cake of (5

to 100 mg/L) was added to the synthetic water, the sample

was mixed with biosorbent at 200 rpm for 60 minutes, the

suspension was allowed to settle for 30 minutes then the

biosorbent was filtered using Whatman filter paper No. 42.

Turbidity of the water was measured by using a 2100Q

(HACH) turbidity meter for synthetic water used in the

experiments. The initial and residual Cu (II) in the water was

analyzed using AAS at wavelength of 324.80 nm, using an

acetylene air flame. A triplicate test was performed for every

sample to get the average of reproducing results. Removal

Efficiency (RE) of Cu (II) was calculated using the equation:

RE% = [(Ci – Cf) / Ci] * 100,

Where: Ci and Cf are the initial and residual concentration of

Cu (II) in water (mg/L), respectively

E. Heavy Metals Measurement

PerkinElmer AAnalystTM 400 Atomic Absorption

Spectrometer (AAS), was used to measure the Cu (II)

concentration. Multi dilution solutions were prepared from

copper stock solution to get the calibration curve. The

concentration of copper in water samples before and after

treatment with Moringa oleifera press cake was obtained

according to the absorbance values and calibration curve.

International Conference on Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ACEE-16) April 18-19, 2016 Istanbul, Turkey

http://dx.doi.org/10.17758/URUAE.AE0416214 16

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Experiments on Cu (II) removal from water showed that

Moringa oleifera press cake could remove the Cu (II) from

the water systems up to 53.49% removal efficiency. It was

reported in literature that Moringa oleifera seeds was also

used to remove the Cu (II) from water systems and to improve

the quality of drinking water. The results showed that

Moringa oleifera seeds were capable of absorbing the Cu (II)

with a percentage removal of 90 % [3]. In addition there was

another study by [24] they reported that the Moringa oleifera

cake residue could remove the Cu (II) from the waste water

with RE 98%. It was also reported by [25] that Moringa

oleifera seeds could remove the Cu (II) with 24.98 mg/l.

The removal of 1ppm Cu (II) was not good enough and up

to 11.1% and the maximum removal took place when the

dose was 80-100mg/L as shown in (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Cu (II) removal & turbidity removal for 1ppm Cu (II).

For 3ppm Cu (II), the maximum removal was 37.13%

when the dose of Moringa oleifera press cake was 100mg/L

as shown in (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Cu (II) removal & turbidity removal for for 3ppm Cu (II).

When the initial Cu (II) was 5ppm, the removal efficiency

was better with a range of 40.06 -51.50% for most of the

dosage used starting from 5mg/L to 100 mg/L (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Cu (II) removal & turbidity removal for 5ppm Cu (II).

The same trend goes for 7ppm Cu (II), it is clear that there

is no much difference in removal efficiency when the dose of

Moringa oleifera press cake was increased from 5mg/L to

100 mg/L (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Cu (II) removal & turbidity removal for 7ppm Cu (II).

The turbidity was removed up to 75.45% from initial

turbidity of 200 NTU when the dose of MOPC was up to 80%

for initial Cu (II) concentration of 7ppm and a dose of MOPC

of 120mg/L. It is considered good removal efficiency in rural

areas where the water quality is not good enough for

drinking. As a conclusion, it can be reported that the press

cake of Moringa oleifera seeds can remove Cu (II) to a

certain level which is around 50% from the water systems

without performing any treatment for the press cake. The

press cake from mechanical press still contains some oil.

Although the oil was washed before the experiments were

carried out, but it is hard to remove it 100%, therefore, the

performance was not as good as the cake residue obtained

from solvent extraction method [24]. The solvent extraction

method is a very good process to remove the oil from seeds.

IV. CONCLUSION

The results of this study showed that Moringa oleifera

press cake can be used for Cu(II) removal from water systems

and as coagulant to remove turbidity from water, but more

work need to be done to improve the quality of Moringa

oleifera press cake as biosorbent and coagulant.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors are grateful to the Research and Innovation

Department at Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pahang,

Malaysia, for financial support under grant # RDU 140318.

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Dr. Eman N. Ali Born in Baghdad/ IRAQ on 29th

January 1958. Bachelor degree in Petroleum & Mining

Engineering/ University of Baghdad/ IRAQ (1980),

M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from UKM/ Malaysia

(2000), and Ph.D. of Biotechnology Engineering, IIUM/

Malaysia (2010). The major field of study is

Environmental Engineering (Air pollution, water

pollution), and Moringa oleifera products.

Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering,

Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. Ali, Eman N.

Alfarra, Sabreen R. Mashitah, Mohd Yusoff and Rahman, Md Lutfor (2015)

Environmentally Friendly Biosorbent from Moringa oleifera leaves for Water

Treatment. International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, 6

(3). pp. 165-169. ISSN 2010-0264. N. A. Eman and A. A. Ahmad Adzhim

(2015). Comparison of Biodiesel Properties produced from Moringa oleifera

Seeds Oil and Palm Oil. Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol 6. No.

1, pp. 36-44. Ali, Eman N. (2014) Moringa oleifera Leaves Possible Uses as

Environmentally Friendly Material: A Review. International Journal of

Chemical, Environmental and Biological Sciences (IJCEBS), 2 (2). pp.

141-145. ISSN 2320-4079 (printed); 2320-4087 (online).

Author’s formal

photo

International Conference on Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ACEE-16) April 18-19, 2016 Istanbul, Turkey

http://dx.doi.org/10.17758/URUAE.AE0416214 18