Development of Heavy Metal Sorption Isotherm Using Fractional Calculus.

Lead is a heavy metal effluent pollutant, which can be generated by different chemical plants. Literature reports different approaches for lead removal, however, great attention has been given to water hyacinths. Mathematical modeling of heavy metal sorption represents an important tool for in-depth process studies. This work proposes a new approach for modeling heavy metal isotherm sorption by using fractional calculus formalism. A novel isotherm based on Mittag-Leffler function is developed for lead sorption experimental data equilibrium modeling, in order to provide more accurate equilibrium information for sorption dynamic modeling. Experimental data were obtained using Eicchorniacrassipes as the hyacinth. Simulation results were compared to classical equilibrium sorption models. It was shown that the proposed isotherm, Epslon, provides better results when compared to classical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]