Bleaching of Neutral Cotton Seed Oil Using Organic Activated Carbon in a Batch System: Kinetics and Adsorption Isotherms

Abba Chetima,Divine Bup Nde,Abdoul Wahabou,Gaston Zomegni,Abdoul Ntieche Rahman

doi:10.3390/pr6030022

Abba Chetima, Divine Bup Nde + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/pr6030022

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Journal: Processes	Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018
Citations: 13	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Maroua, University of Bamenda

Abstract

In the processing of cotton and neem seeds to obtain oil for diverse uses, enormous quantities of seed husk are generated as waste, which when not properly disposed of, poses environmental problems. One way of reducing this waste is to use it for the production of activated carbon (AC) for its multiple applications. In this work, activated carbon was produced from cotton and neem seed husks by carbonization followed by acid activation. The prepared ACs were characterized for its porosity and surface properties as well as for its ability to bleach neutral cotton seed oil. The prepared ACs are very efficient in the decoloration process, as they removed about 96–98% of the pigments compared to 98.4% removal with commercial bleaching earth. Temperature had a pronounced effect on the bleaching of neutral cotton seed oil. Maximum adsorption was observed at 60 °C for a contact time of 45 min. The adsorption kinetics were modelled by the intra-particle and the pseudo-second order equations while the adsorption isotherms followed the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. It is concluded that the organic ACs are efficient in pigment removal from neutral cotton seed oil and therefore are potential bleaching agents for the vegetable oil industry.

Highlights

The demand for activated carbon (AC) for air and water treatment as well as in food processing has been on the increase the world over because of its very effective adsorbent properties [1,2,3,4].Considering their multiple applications, activated carbons can be prepared from several animal or vegetable organic matter
Average iodine values of the ACs were 472.44 and 505.46 mg/g while the corresponding surface areas of the ACs calculated from Equation (4) were respectively 468.27 and 520 m2 /g for neem and cotton suggesting that these ACs could have a high ability to adsorb small molecules
Activated carbon prepared from neem and cotton seed husks is effective in the adsorption of pigments from neutral cotton seed oil

Summary

Introduction

The demand for activated carbon (AC) for air and water treatment as well as in food processing has been on the increase the world over because of its very effective adsorbent properties [1,2,3,4].Considering their multiple applications, activated carbons can be prepared from several animal or vegetable organic matter. The demand for activated carbon (AC) for air and water treatment as well as in food processing has been on the increase the world over because of its very effective adsorbent properties [1,2,3,4]. Activated carbon has enormous potentials in the removal of dyes, odors, tastes and contaminants, in water purification and other decontamination processes [5]. It is widely used on an industrial scale as an adsorbent mainly in the purification/separation of liquids and gases, oil decoloration, the purification of foodstuffs and pharmaceutical produce and as a catalyst and catalyst support in several reactions [6]. Synthetic activated carbons usually prepared from petroleum sources are expensive and non-biodegradable and pose problems of environmental pollution after use

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