Optimum Process Parameters for Activated Carbon Production from Rice Husk for Phenol Adsorption

Aim: The determination of optimum process parameters in the production of activated carbon from rice husk for the uptake of phenol from aqueous solution was the focus of this work.

Study Design: The optimization was designed using response surface methodology.

Methodology: Central composite design (CCD) was used to generate the design matrix and analyze the result obtained. Carbonization temperature, percentage acid concentration and carbonization time were the factors considered. Tetraoxophosphoric acid (H3PO4) was employed in the activation process. The surface area was determined using the Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) nitrogen adsorption method.

Results: The result indicated the optimum process conditions as carbonization temperature of 575ºC, time of 240 minutes and 45 percentage acid concentration. This gave 96.5% adsorption efficiency of phenol from aqueous solution. There was good agreement between the experimental values and the predicted values. The BET surface area of the activated carbon was 471.1 m2/s.

Conclusion: This work has optimized the process conditions for activated carbon production from rice husk for effective adsorption of phenol from wastewater.