Preparation of activated carbon from coconut husk: Optimization study on removal of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol using response surface methodology

Tan, Ivy A. W. and Abdul Latif, Bin Ahmad and Hameed, Bassim Hamid (2008) Preparation of activated carbon from coconut husk: Optimization study on removal of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol using response surface methodology. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 153 (1-2). pp. 709-717. ISSN 0304-3894

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Abstract

Activated carbon was prepared from coconut husk using physicochemical activation method which consisted of potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment and carbon dioxide (CO2) gasification. The effects of three preparation variables (CO2 activation temperature, CO2 activation time and KOH:char impregnation ratio) on the 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) uptake and activated carbon yield were investigated. Based on the central composite design, two quadratic models were developed to correlate the preparation variables to the two responses. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the most influential factor on each experimental design response was identified. The activated carbon preparation conditions were optimized by maximizing both the 2,4,6-TCP uptake and activated carbon yield. The predicted 2,4,6-TCP uptake and carbon yield from the models agreed satisfactorily with the experimental values. The optimum conditions for preparing activated carbon from coconut husk for adsorption of 2,4,6-TCP were found as follow: CO2 activation temperature of 750 °C, CO2 activation time of 2.29 h and KOH:char impregnation ratio of 2.91, which resulted in 191.73 mg/g of 2,4,6-TCP uptake and 20.16 % of activated carbon yield.

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