Microwave-assisted extraction of banana peel bio-flocculant and its potential in wastewater treatment

Coagulation-flocculation process has been continuously investigated as a significant process to reduce water turbidity in wastewater treatment, owing to the process simplicity and economic feasibility. In this research, the performance of extracted banana peel as bio-flocculant for turbidity removal under different extraction methods and conditions was investigated. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was found to be more effective compared to conventional heating extraction (CHE), with higher turbidity removal efficiency at 45.16%, shorter extraction time and lesser energy requirement. The most optimum turbidity removal percentage was attained by using bio-flocculant extracted with low microwave power, 30 s of extraction duration and banana peel dosage of 5 g/100 ml distilled water. The banana peel bio-flocculant demonstrated potential to be used as a replacement to alum as the turbidity removal as high as 97.06% was recorded using bio-flocculant alone, which was not significantly different from 99.22% removal through the utilization of alum. This offered a greener option in coagulation and flocculation process in reducing utilization of chemical-based coagulant.