Oil removal from water by fungal biomass: a factorial design analysis

A fractional factorial design analysis was conducted to screen the significant factors influencing removal of three emulsified oils from water, namely, standard mineral oil (SMO), canola oil (CO) and Bright-Edge 80 cutting oil using non-viable biomass of fungus Mucor rouxii rich with chitosan in its cell wall. Factors investigated were pH of the solution (3-9), temperature (5-30 degrees C), adsorbent dose (0.05-0.5 g), concentration of oil (50-350 mg/L) and rotational speed of the shaker (100-200 rpm). It was observed that pH of the solution was the most influencing parameter on the removal of all the three oils studied. Higher oil removal efficiencies (80-99%) were obtained at a pH of 3.0 by M. rouxii biomass for all the three oils studied. Temperature had an effect on SMO and Bright-Edge 80 removal while adsorbent dose was found to influence the removal of SMO. Average removals of SMO and Bright-Edge 80 were higher by 13% at a solution temperature of 30 degrees C compared to removals at 5 degrees C. Oil concentration had an effect on the removal of CO. The average removal of CO was found to be higher by approximately 15% at an initial oil concentration of 50mg/L than at 350 mg/L.