Chemical and physical activation of olive-mill waste water to produce activated carbons

Abstract

Olive-mill waste water is produced in large quantities during the manufacture process of the olive oil in mills. This by-product has been used as raw material to produce activated carbons by both chemical and physical activation methods. In the first case, ZnCl2 and H3PO4 were used as activating agent and in the second case, CO2 at 600 °C for different periods of time. Obtained results indicate that the chemical activation with ZnCl2 and H3PO4 at 600 °C, in an inert atmosphere, yielded activated carbons with the highest area and more developed microporosity, mesoporosity and macroporosity. Adsorption of rate of phenol onto activated olive-mill was studied as a function of several physical-chemical parameters such as temperature, initial concentration in solution and hydrodynamic conditions. Equilibrium parameters of adsorption have been determined using Langmuir constant K.