Activated carbons precursor to corncob and coconut shell in the remediation of heavy metals from oil refinery wastewater

In this research adsorption of heavy metal from refinery effluent was studied using corncob and coconut shell activated carbon. Simultaneous adsorption of six heavy metals cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc was examined using a batch adsorption process. The activated carbons were produced at different temperature and impregnation ratio. The surface morphology showed a well-defined pore space for both corncob and coconut shell. Freundlich and Langmuir model were applied and the order of adsorption are Cu Pb Cr Zn Ni Cd and Ni Cr Pb Zn Cu Cd for coconut shell and corncob respectively. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm represents the sorption data where the R^2 known determination coefficient approaches unity. This research conquers that Corncob and coconut shell activated carbon can be efficiently applied for remediation of pollutant is aqueous state.