Synthesis of Activated Carbon Via Sulphuric Acid and Iron Chloride and its Potential Application Synthetic Grey Water in Combination with Sand Bed Filter

Abstract

Biomass is an economical and wide available source for the production of activated carbon (AC). In this study, the effect of H2SO4 and FeCl3 in the production of AC from the cotton stalk (CS) was analyzed. Various techniques used to examine the characteristics of both prepared activated carbons (ACs). The techniques include scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which identified the surface modification, including its micro and macropores. Furthermore, crystalline modifications were measured through X-ray diffractometry (XRD) techniques. In last, Fouriertransforms infrared spectra (FTIR) method identified the presence of different functional groups on the surfaces of ACs. The major peaks during FTIR analysis of H2SO4-AC were observed in the range of 753.00, 877.52, 1180.09, 1557.42, 1574.55, 1695.10, 2110.76, 2320.81, 2359.11, 3360.30 cm-1. Similarly, during the analysis of FeCl3-AC,the major peaks were noticed at 877, 1156, 1557, 1568, 1683, 1695, 1916, 1991, 2112, and 2358 cm-1. The removal efficiency of prepared ACs were analyzed on synthetic grey water (SGW) in combination with a sand filter. The pH value before treatment was 10 but after treatment with FeCl3-AC and sand filter the value was up to 8, and 7.2 with H2SO4-AC and sand filter. Similarly,turbidity before treatment was 36.8 NTU but after filtration with FeCl3-AC and H2SO4-AC in combination with the sand filter the values were 3.2 NTU and 1.6 NTU respectively. The BOD5 of SGW before treatment was 40.6, and after the application of FeCl3-AC in combination with sand filters the final value was 3.26 mg/l and H2SO4-AC in combination with sand filters, the final values was2 mg/l. The initial measuring value of SGW for electrical conductivity (EC) was 0.40 uScm-1. After the treatment with ACs, a minor increase in the values of EC was examined, which was 1.6 μS/cm for FeCl3-based AC combine with sand bed filter and 1.65 μS/cm for H2SO4-based AC in combination with a sand filter. The amount of total suspended solids (TSS) at an initial stage was 34 mg/L in SGW, while it was 0.68 mg/L after the application of H2SO4-based AC in combination with a sand filter and 1.61 mg/L after the application of FeCl3-based AC combine with sand bed filter. Oil and fates were also observed with the initial value of 54 mg/L, which was 1.41 mg/l and 3.1 mg/l after the individual application of Sulphuric acid based AC and iron chloride based AC combined with sand respectively. In addition, the initial value of COD was 81 mg/L and after application of FeCl3-AC in combination with the sandfilter, the value was up to 5.2. On another hand, the COD after treatment with H2SO4-based AC and sand bed filter was 2.3 mg/l. The value of total coliforms in synthetic grey water was 1500 CFU/100 ml. After the application of FeCl3-AC and H2SO4-AC in combination with the sandfilter, the final measuring values were 6.32 CFU/100 ml and 4.21 CFU/100 ml respectively.