Production of Granular Activated Carbon from Waste Palm Oil Shells and Its Adsorption Characteristics for Cu2+

The utilization of waste palm oil shells as activated carbons hasbeen proven reliable and
environmental friendly. The study emphasized on the preparation of activated carbons
from the abundant waste of palm oil shells and their ability to adsorb heavy metals in
synthetic wastewaters. Waste palm oil shells were grinded and sieved before going for
carbonization and chemical activation. Carbonization temperature was within the range
of 700°C to 900°C for and carbonization goes for 3 hours. Sodium hydroxide as the
chemical activation agent was varied at the range concentration of 0.05M to 0.15M For
adsorption process purposes, the produced activated carbons were tested at different
copper solutions concentrations (50ppm, lOOppm and 200ppm), copper solutions pH
(pH3, pH7 and pH12) and loading ratio (0.5$, l.Og and 1.5g in lOOmL of copper
solutions) to study their adsorption capacity. From the study, it can be observed that at
higher carbonization temperature, the better the adsorption will be. The pore volume of
the activated carbon increases at higher temperature due to excessive vaporization in
shells. Activated carbon activated at lower concentration of sodium hydroxide, 0.05M,
is a superior adsorbent due to much larger external surface area. The best conditions for
removal of copper ions are at 200ppm and pH 12. In addition, adsorption process at
higher loading gives the most adsorption capacity. For the development of adsorption
isotherm, the activated carbons suited with Freundlich isotherm instead of Langmuir
isotherm.
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