New micronutrient biocomponents based on blackcurrant seeds pomace – Bench-scale kinetic studies

In the present work new universal bench-scale plant for biosorption, useful in production of new micronutrient biocomponents, was described. The new installation enabling working in a fixed bed or stirred tank batch mode. Reactors may also be used in serial or parallel mode, which gives many application possibilities. Copper ions were selected as a sorbate for kinetic modelling. The results of the adsorption capacities of Cu(II) were 13.9 mg/g for fixed bed and 12.8 mg/g for stirred tank. During biosorption of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solution ion exchange and release of Ca(II), K(I), Mg(II), and Na(I) were observed. For kinetics description of stirred tank process pseudo-1st-and pseudo-2nd order models were used. For fixed bed process the Thomas, Yoon-Nelson, Adams-Bohart and Wolborska models were used. The use of blackcurrant seed residues as biosorbents enables the generation of new products from waste biomass, which can become an alternative to the traditional fertilizers with microelements. The presented technology is an attempt to reduce environmental impact of the conventional micronutrient fertilizers, which contain toxic chelators such as EDTA. Minimization of waste and maximization of product output makes it an efficient tool supporting cleaner production.