MEA Wastewater Treatment via Banana Peel Based Activated Carbon

The main purpose of this project is to study the potential of using banana peel (BP) as bio-sorbent in removal of mono-ethanolamine (MEA) from industrial waste water. The study emphasizes on the parameters involved in the preparation phase of the BP adsorbent, such as particle sizes, impregnation ratio, carbonization temperature and duration. The dried BP is first grinded into two different particle sizes (0.25mm and 5.00mm), then chemically activated using potassium hydroxide (KOH) and carbonized at different sets of temperature (400oC – 600oC) and duration (1 – 2 hours) into activated carbon, which is a popular type of adsorbent used in industrial waste water treatment. The characterization of BP based activated carbon is carried out using the surface area analyser (Micromeritics ASAP 2020) and the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) to determine which set of parameters produces the largest surface area estimated using the BET theory (SBET) which is directly related to the effectiveness of that particular adsorbent. Based on the characterisation result, sample A11 which is of particle size of 0.25mm, activated using potassium hydroxide (KOH) at 1:1 impregnation ratio, carbonized at 400oC for 2 hours, is found to have the largest SBET (259.5643 m2/g). The total pore volume (VT) of sample A11 is 0.01464cm3/g while its average pore diameter (D) is 0.2498nm. The produced BP based activated carbon samples are tested for their adsorption capacity of MEA by testing for the Chemical Oxygen Demand to determine the highest percentage removal of MEA in wastewater. The BP based activated carbon also tested for adsorption capacity of heavy metal ion. The heavy metal ion studied in this project is Nickel (Ni2+), where the adsorption capacity of sample A11 is specifically studied. Sample A11 yields higher percentage removal of MEA in wastewater and also adsorption of Nickel (Ni2+).