Open AccessEvaluation of various preparation methods of oil palm fiber (OPF) biochar for ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) removal
Author(s) -
Tanveer Ahmad,
Sumathi Sethupathi,
Mohammed J.K. Bashir,
Sin Ying Tan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012020
Subject(s) - biochar , pyrolysis , adsorption , wastewater , chemistry , oxidizing agent , ammonia , raw material , nuclear chemistry , nitrogen , waste management , organic chemistry , engineering
The aim of this study is to develop a oil palm based biochar for the selective removal of NH 3 -N in low concentration from aquaculture wastewater. In this study, three different preparation methods of biochar were evaluated for the adsorption of NH 3 -N from synthetic aquaculture wastewater. The three methods are pyrolysis, activation with acid before pyrolysis and activation after pyrolysis with numerous oxidizing agents. In the 1 st method, various biochars have been prepared at different pyrolysis temperatures (300 – 500 °C) and holding time (0.5 – 2 hr). The maximum removal efficiency of 50 % was achieved at preparation condition of 300 °C and 2 hr. In the 2 nd method, the acid activated raw OPF was pyrolyze at 300 °C, 1 hr. The maximum removal was lower compared to the 1 st method without acid treatment. In the 3 rd Method, the optimized biochar from the 1 st method was activated with different activating agents such as, HNO 3 , HCl, H 3 PO 4 , H 2 SO 4 , CH 3 COOH and H 2 O 2 at 100 °C for 2 hr. It was noticed that activation after pyrolysis did not show any improvement in the removal of NH3-N from synthetic aquaculture wastewater. Characterization of optimized samples were carried out to investigate the adsorption mechanism process of NH 3 -N. The 1 st method (pyrolysis) was the best which reported the highest (50 %) removal of NH 3 -N. Pyrolyzed OPF is a potential adsorbent for NH 3 -N.