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In this study, the modelling and optimization studies of the carcinogenic acid dye sorption from aqueous solutions were carried out using the Factor Design Methodology. This methodology provides a predictive model of the response in the range of variables studied and determines the optimum conditions for the best performance. The sorption of acid dye AB113 on Moroccan prickly pear cactus peel (MPPCP) was chosen as a case study of a typical removal process. Minitab17 software was used to study the effects of adsorption parameters, including initial dye concentration, solution pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, and temperature. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the experimental results obtained. The studied parameters at two levels (-1 and +1) were coded as X1, X2, X3, X4 and X5, consecutively. The optimum conditions obtained for the adsorption of AB113 dye were: 1 g for the mass of MPPCP, 6 for the initial solution pH, 180 min for the contact time and 20 mg/L for the initial dye concentration. The results show that the model is well adapted to the experimental data, indicating the suitability of the model and the success of the factorial design methodology in optimizing the adsorption conditions.

Water pollution is an alarming problem in developing countries. Dried algae can be considered as potential and suitable bio-sorbents due to their fast and easy growth and high availability. The special surface properties of these algae allow them to adsorb different types of organic and inorganic pollutants from solutions. In this context, the removal of anionic acid blue 113 dye (AB113) from aqueous solutions by dried Corallina officinalis alga as low-cost bio-sorbent was chosen as a case study of a typical remediation process of water contaminants. The effect of various environmental and physicochemical parameters has been studied. The results show that the equilibrium adsorption was established within 120 min. The sorption phenomenon was investigated by determining the process kinetics at different concentrations and the adsorption isotherms at different temperatures. The kinetics results showed that the pseudo second-order kinetics model generates the best agreement with the experimental data. The modeling results showed that linear Langmuir and Freundlich models appear to fit the adsorption data better than Temkin model for the adsorption of AB113 onto dried C. officinalis alga. It can be concluded that C. Officinalis alga can be successfully used as adsorbent.