TB4093 BIOENERGY AND CHEMURGY ENGINEERING RESEARCH II DEVELOPING ACTIVATED CARBON ADSORBENTS FROM PALM SHELL AND COCONUT SHELL FOR REMOVING AL(III) AND NI(II) CONTAINED IN BAUXITE MINING WASTEWATER

• Main Author: Syahroni, Oky
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/48332
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Bauxite miners activity produce waste as red mud that can pollute the water of the mine excavation. The phenomenon caused by the red mud that formed sediments on the bottom of the water, so the red mud metals such as aluminium and nickel dissolves in water. Method that can be used to remove Al(III) and Ni(II) in red mud is adsorption using the activated carbon as the adsorbent. This research focuses on developing the activated carbon adsorbents from palm shells and coconut shells to remove Al(III) and Ni(II) in red mud. Activated carbon was made from charcoals that was prepared by pyrolysis of palm shells and coconut shells at temperature of 400-500oC and then treated with acid wash using nitric acid and phosphoric acid at concentrations of 8 M, 10 M and 12 M. Activated carbon that had been treated with acid wash was characterized using a cation exchange capacity (CEC) test and the Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET) test. Afterwards, the activated carbon was used to adsorb Al(III) with the concentrations of 5.0 ppm, 7.5 ppm and 10.0 ppm and Ni(II) with concentrations of 2.5 ppm, 5.0 ppm and 7.5 ppm. The adsorption process was done in a batch with an adsorbent dose of 10 g / L in 50 mL of sample solution for 30 minutes. Measurement of metal ion concentration after adsorption was done by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) test. The research showed that the highest CEC value was obtained with acid wash treatment using 10 M nitric acid on coconut shells charcoal is 2.6 mmol/g. Treatment of acid wash can also increase the surface area from 95.66 m2/g to 362.23 m2/g on palm shells activated carbon with the usage of 10 M nitric acid. Activated carbon can remove up to 48.37% Al (III) and 83.46% Ni (II). The corresponding isotherm adsorption pattern for adsorption of Al(III) and Ni(II) with activated carbon is the Freundlich isotherm.