Optimizing Sustainable Phytoextraction of Lead from Contaminated Soil Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN)

Maria Manzoor (), Usman Rauf Kamboh, Sumaira Gulshan, Sven Tomforde (), Iram Gul, Alighazi Siddiqui and Muhammad Arshad
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Maria Manzoor: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Usman Rauf Kamboh: The Intelligent System Group, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Sumaira Gulshan: Department of Computational Sciences, The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Sven Tomforde: The Intelligent System Group, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Iram Gul: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Hazara University, Mansehra 21300, Pakistan
Alighazi Siddiqui: Department of Computer Science, College of Computer Science & Information Technology, Jazan University, Jazan 45152, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Arshad: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: Lead (Pb) is well known for the containment of soil surfaces. In the last few decades, phytoremediation has been the most ideal technology to extract Pb from soil, involving numerous chemical reactions and cost analysis. The aim of this study is to model and to optimize Pb extraction from the contaminated soil via Pelargonium hortorum by comparing two modeling approaches: response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) with the genetic algorithm (GA). To determine the significance of the proposed solution, in vitro essays were performed to check the Pb tolerance of bacterial strains (NCCP 1844, 1848, 1857, and 1862), followed by the co-application of bacteria and citric acid on a Pb hyperaccumulator ( Pelargonium hortorum L.) on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar medium. Afterwards, a pot culture experiment was performed to optimize Pb extraction competency from Pb-spiked (0 mg kg −1 , 500 mg kg −1 , 1000 mg kg −1 , and 1500 mg kg −1 ) soil by Pelargonium hortorum L., to which citric acid (5 and 10 mmol L −1 ) and Microbacterium paraoxydance (1 and 1.5 OD) were applied. Plants were harvested at 30, 60, and 90 day intervals, and they were analyzed for dry biomass and Pb uptake characteristics. The maximum Pb extraction efficiency of 86.0% was achieved with 500 mg kg −1 soil Pb for 60 days. Furthermore, RSM, based on the Box–Behnken design (BBD) and the ANN-based Levenberg–Marquardt Algorithm (LMA), were applied to model Pb extraction from the soil. The significance of the predicted values from RSM and LMA were close to 36.0% and 86.05%, respectively, compared to the laboratory values. The comprehensive evaluation of these findings encouraged the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of the ANN for the optimization process. Therefore, experimental results showed that ANN is an accurate technique to optimize an integrated phytoremediation system for sustainable Pb removal, besides being environmentally friendly and potentially cost-effective.

Keywords: soil contamination; citric acid; bacteria; ANN; RSM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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