From pollutant to solution of wastewater pollution: Synthesis of activated carbon from textile sludge for dye adsorption

Adsorption is an important process in wastewater treatment,and conversion of waste materials to adsorbent offers a solution to high material cost related to the use of commercial activated carbon.This study investigated the adsorption behaviour of Reactive Black 5（RB5）and methylene blue（MB）onto activated carbon produced from textile sludge（TSAC）.The activated carbon was synthesized through chemical activation of precursor followed with carbonization at 650℃ under nitrogen flow.Effects of time（0–200 min）,pH（2–10）,temperature（25–60℃）,initial dye concentration（0–200 mg·L^-1）,and adsorbent dosage（0.01–0.15 g）on dye removal efficiency were investigated.Preliminary screening revealed that TSAC synthesized via H2SO4activation showed higher adsorption behaviour than TSAC activated by KCl and ZnCl2.The adsorption capacity of TSAC was found to be 11.98 mg·g^-1（RB5）and 13.27 mg·g^-1（MB）,and is dependent on adsorption time and initial dye concentration.The adsorption data for both dyes were well fitted to Freundlich isotherm model which explains the heterogeneous nature of TSAC surface.The dye adsorption obeyed pseudo-second order kinetic model,thus chemisorption was the controlling step.This study reveals potential of textile sludge in removal of dyes from aqueous solution,and further studies are required to establish the applicability of the synthesized adsorbent for the treatment of waste water containing toxic dyes from textile industry.

Kinetics of continuous biodegradation of pesticide organic wastewater by activated carbon-activated sludge

Organic triazophos wastewater was continuously treated with Rhodopseudomonas capsulatus and activated carbon and activated sludge system(PACT AS) in a plug bioreactor. A kinetic model of PACT AS wastewater treatment system was established to provide an useful basis for further simulate scale up treatment of toxic organic wastewater.

Effect of biomass addition on the surface and adsorption characterization of carbon-based adsorbents from sewage sludge

Sewage sludge with the additive corn cob was used as prescusor to prepare sludge-based carbon adsorbents by pyrolysis method. And then, the carbonizated products were activated with potassium hydroxide. The mixing ratio of the corn cob to sewage sludge was investigated. The surface area and pore size distribution, elemental composition, surface chemistry structure and the surface physical morphology were determined and compared. The results demonstrated that the addition of corn cob into the sewage sludge sample could effectively improve the surface area （from 287 to 591 m 2 /g） and the microporosity （from 5% to 48%） of the carbon based adsorbent, thus enhancing the adsorption behavior. The sulfur dioxide adsorption capacity was measured according to breakthrough test. It was found that the sulfur dioxide adsorption capacity of the adsorbents was obviously enhanced after the addition of the corn cob. It is presumed that not only highly porous adsorbents, but also a high metallic content of these materials are required to achieve good performances.

Zero-valent iron doped carbons readily developed from sewage sludge for lead removal from aqueous solution

Low-cost but high-efficiency composites of iron-containing porous carbons were prepared using sewage sludge and ferric salts as raw materials. Unlike previous time- and energy-consuming manufacturing procedures, this study shows that pyrolyzing a mixture of sludge and ferric salt can produce suitable composites for lead adsorption. The specific surface area, the total pore volume and the average pore width of the optimal composite were 321 m^2/g, 0.25 cm^3/g, and 3.17 nm, respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that ferric salt favored the formation of metallic iron, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the formation of hydroxyl and carboxylic groups. The result of batch tests indicated that the adsorption capacity of carbons activated with ferric salt could be as high as 128.9 mg/g, while that of carbons without activation was 79.1 mg/g. The new manufacturing procedure used in this study could save at least 19.5 k J of energy per gram of activated carbon.

A new complex plant for carbonization and composting of municipal wastes

A new complex plant for carbonization and composting of municipal wastes proposed for Gero City is introduced. The separated combustible waste and non-separated combustible waste are carbonized in two fluidized carbonization furnaces in the plant, and the coke produced is used in steelworks. The separated garbage and forest-wastes are mixed with dried septic-tank sludge to produce high quality compost for farms. This use of waste materials in the complex plant considerably lowers the amount of waste going to land-fills, and in addition, creates lower total emission of dioxins and carbon dioxide into the environment.