An innovative prototype furnace designed to produce activated carbon for removal of chromium from tannery waste

Abstract

In recent years, the demand for energy is increasing due to increase in population, industrial and agricultural activities. India has most resources of renewable energy and a number of technologies have been developed to harness the energy resources. There is a huge potential to separate energy from agricultural waste using a suitable technology. The organic waste from various forms can be treated either by a biochemical or thermo chemical route. Biochemical conversion through anaerobic digestion results in the energy degradation. Thermo chemical conversion involves in the burning of waste to produce energy. The treatment method depends on factors such as quality, quantity, works and local requirement. Coconut shell and sugarcane bagasse are naturally occurring and abundant biomass which offers an economical solution for heavy metal removal. Heavy metals like nickel and chromium are main toxins which affects lives severely. The adsorption potential of activated carbon derived from a mixture of coconut shell and sugarcane bagasse has been studied for the removal of chromium from the tannery waste water collected from the Common Effluent Treatment Plant(CETP) atPallavaram, Chennai. The activated charcoal is prepared by designing a prototype furnace which accommodates large quantity of biomass and burnt in an inert atmosphere to produce activated carbon. This carbon material was collected and made into energy blocks as briquettes. These briquettes have been used as a filter bed to remove the heavy metals by developing a packed bed column experiment. Thus the experiment indicates that mixture of sugarcane bagasse and coconut shell works out as an effective adsorbent for the removal of chromium from tannery waste water.