Removal of phenol from aqueous solution using carbonized Terminalia chebula-activated carbon: process parametric optimization using conventional method and Taguchi’s experimental design, adsorption kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic study

Prateek Khare,Arvind Kumar

doi:10.1007/s13201-012-0047-0

Prateek Khare, Arvind Kumar

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-012-0047-0

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Abstract

In the present paper, the phenol removal from wastewater was investigated using agri-based adsorbent: Terminalia chebula-activated carbon (TCAC) produced by carbonization of Terminalia chebula (TC) in air-controlled atmosphere at 600 °C for 4 h. The surface area of TCAC was measured as 364 m2/g using BET method. The surface characteristic of TCAC was analyzed based on the value of point of zero charge. The effect of parameters such as TCAC dosage, pH, initial concentration of phenol, time of contact and temperature on the sorption of phenol by TCAC was investigated using conventional method and Taguchi experimental design. The total adsorption capacity of phenol was obtained as 36.77 mg/g using Langmuir model at the temperature of 30 °C at pH = 5.5. The maximum removal of phenol (294.86 mg/g) was obtained using Taguchi’s method. The equilibrium study of phenol on TCAC showed that experimental data fitted well to R–P model. The results also showed that kinetic data were followed more closely the pseudo-first-order model. The results of thermodynamic study showed that the adsorption of phenol on TCAC was spontaneous and an exothermic in nature.

Highlights

The equilibrium study of phenol on Terminalia chebula-activated carbon (TCAC) showed that experimental data fitted well to Redlich and Peterson (R–P) model
The presence of phenolic compounds represents a serious potential hazard for human health and aquatic life, and that is why phenols have been registered as a priority pollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) with a permissible limit of 0.1 mg/l in wastewater (Srivastava et al 2006; USEPA 1985)
The adsorption data for the uptake of phenol versus contact time at different initial concentrations is presented in this paper; the results showed that equilibrium time required for the adsorption of phenol onto TCAC was 1,440 min (24 h)

Summary

Introduction

Their presence can be commonly observed in the streams of various industrial wastewaters (Cao et al 2003; Jiang et al 2003). The presence of phenolic compounds represents a serious potential hazard for human health and aquatic life, and that is why phenols have been registered as a priority pollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) with a permissible limit of 0.1 mg/l in wastewater (Srivastava et al 2006; USEPA 1985). The removal of phenols from industrial effluents is required before sewage disposal. For this purpose, various (more or less) environment-friendly methods have been suggested (Dursun et al 2005; Liu et al 2010; El-Naas et al 2010). Several physicochemical and biological treatment techniques already exist today, but the most effective and frequently used procedure for phenol removal is adsorption on activated carbons (Dabrowski et al 2005; Tong et al 1998; Ozkaya 2006; Girods et al 2009)

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