Box-Behnken experimental design for the optimization of methylene blue adsorption onto Aleppo pine cones

Box-behnken experimental design has been used to study the influence of operational parameters on the adsorption of methylene blue (mb) by a natural and low cost adsorbent,aleppo pine cone (apc). our main goal is to optimize the process at a lower cost with maximum efficiency,achieving this through sound testing,identification of influential factors to the process,the evaluation of interactions between these factors,and modeling mathematical result. in the experimental field study the amount of mb adsorbed by apc depending on the ph,the initial concentration of mb,and adsorbent dosage. therefore,from the obtained results the large variation indicates that a factor at least has an influence on the adsorption efficiency. the coefficients of ph,concentration of the mb,are positive; these parameters (ph and concentration of the mb),thus positively affect the adsorption of mb. for those against the adsorbent dosage are negative,it means that their influence is negative on the adsorption process. analysis of variance (anova) showed a high coefficient of determination value (r2=0.96) and satisfactory prediction of the regression model was derived. the highest cr,estimated by multivariate experimental design,was found at the optimal experimental conditions of initial dye concentration of 100 mg/l,adsorbent dosage 0.5 g/l and ph=10. finally,the results could show that the adsorbent (apc) used is very effective in removing textile dyes. © 2017,university of mohammed premier oujda morocco.