The Removal of Heavy Metals from Industrial Effluents using Biomass Based Modified Activated Carbon

Abstract

Modified coconut shell based activated carbon was used as a precursor in this study to remove heavy metals Lead (Pb), Aluminium (Al), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), and Cadmium (Cd) from industrial effluent using the thermal process of pyrolysis and carbonization for 2 hr and impregnation ratio of 1:2 with phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) and sodium hydroxide( Na O H) for three different biomass particle size at 600 0 c temperature using Znlc 2 as an activating agent. A maximum activated carbon yield of 68g was obtained for the coconut shell. The optimum activation temperature, impregnation ratio, time, uptake capacity and removal rate were determined. The results of this work illustrates that high-quality activated carbon can be locally manufactured from coconut shell waste, and a scale-up of this production will go a long way in reducing the tons of coconut shell waste generation in the country.