Removal of Heavy Metals from Dye Effluent Using Activated Carbon Produced from Coconut Shell

Abstract

The ability of activated carbon produced from coconut shell to remoe mercury Hg (II), Lead Pb (II) and Copper Cu (II) from dye effluent was investigated. The activated carbon was produced through chemical activation processes by using zinc chloride (ZnCE). The adsorption capacity was determined as a function of adsorbent dosage. The adsorption Isotherms of the studied metals on adsorbent were also determined and compared with the Langmair models. The activated carbon produced showed excellent effecency in removing Hg (II) and Pb (II) with percentage removal up to 80 % at low adsorbent dosage of 2 g. In contrast, only about 29 % removal of Cu (II) was achieved at adsorbent dosage of 2 g. The study also showed that the adsorption of Hg (II), Pb (II) and Cu (II) by the activated carbon is dependent on the dosage of the adsorbent and the initial metal concentration. The use of cocnut shell for activated carbon also helps in solving the problem of over abundance of cocnut shell as agricultural waste.