Removal of Para-nitrophenol from Industrial Waste Water (IWW) by Adsorption using Modified Activated Carbon

Para-nitrophenol is one of the organic pollutants found in industrial wastewater treatment. Its toxicity can bring great harm to biological systems, including plants, fish and other organisms. Besides, para-nitrophenol will defect resins when entering the ion exchange unit in Condensate Polishing Plant (one part of the wastewater treatment system). Therefore, activated carbon used in the carbon filter installed before the ion exchange unit has to be modified to overcome the resin life problems as a result of fouling due to the organic compounds by adsorbing the organic pollutants more efficiently. For this research, surface modification of activated carbon using acidic solution is applied. The effect of adsorbate concentration, pH and temperature on the adsorption capacity for both unmodified and modified activated carbon are observed as well as analyzed. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is used to study the pore structure of the activated carbon before and after modification, whereas UV-vis Spectrophotometer is used to determine the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon towards organic pollutant. As the concentration of absorbate increases, adsorption capacity increases. The adsorption reaches its highest point around pH 7. When the carbonization temperature increases, the adsorption capacity increases as well.