Removal of Phenol from Oil Mill Effluent Using Activated Carbon Prepared from Kernel Shell in Thailand’s Palm Industry

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to treat palm oil mill e uent (POME) containing phenol, which is a hazardous compound, using activated carbon (AC) prepared from palm kernel shell (PKS), one of the byproducts of the palm oil industry. First, PKS from Thailand was characterized by proximate, elemental, and thermogravimetric analyses. The high carbon and low ash contents in the PKS indicated that PKS is a promising precursor for producing AC. Then, palm kernel shell activated carbon (PKSAC) was prepared using chemical activation with orthophosphoric acid as an activating reagent under various conditions. The physical and chemical properties of the PKSACs were characterized using nitrogen adsorption-desorption and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. Chemical activation improved the yield and physical properties, even as it changed the chemical properties of PKSACs. The PKSACs thus prepared contained large volumes of micropores. Using the prepared PKSACs, batch equilibrium adsorption was conducted to remove phenol from the POME model. The PKSACs could successfully adsorb and remove phenol from the POME model. The phenol adsorption followed the Langmuir model, and the saturated adsorbed amount of phenol increased with increase in surface area. Based on these results, it is concluded that the treatment of POME using PKSACs produced by chemical activation would be a practicable treatment method since the prepared PKSACs provide a high yield and are capable of treating model hazardous compound in POME.

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“…The former indicates the presence of a high concentration of alcohol, O–H (phenols). This corresponds with the natural composition of POME, which contains a high concentration of hazardous phenolic compounds ( Boontham, Habaki & Egashira, 2020 ). The dark brown color of POME is caused by the oxidation of phenolic components, such as lignin and anaerobically broken-down products.…”

Activated Carbon Fabricated from Biomass for Adsorption/Bio-Adsorption of 2,4-D and MCPA: Kinetics, Isotherms, and Artificial Neural Network Modeling

“…The surface area, oxygen surface groups, pH of the point of zero charge (pH pzc ), and pore-size distribution were measured for all AC samples. The measuring processes have already been described in detail in previous publications [20,21]. Three measurement series per sample were taken, and the average value and SD were calculated.…”

“…The usage of AC in wastewater treatment has been established to be more effective and efficient compared to other adsorbent materials [19]. There are a wide variety of waste materials used for the production of effective AC [16,17,[20][21][22][23]. The use of agricultural biomass wastes as ecological, cheap, and renewable sources can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while achieving sustainability in AC production [24].…”

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“…The main methods used include physical methods, chemical methods, biological methods, and the combination of these methods. Physical methods normally use activated carbon [12][13][14] and resin adsorbents [15][16][17][18], and the decolorization mechanism mainly includes adsorption and ion exchange [19]. This method is effective and easy to operate, and is one of the most mature methods to treat dye wastewater.…”