Evaluation of Activated Carbon from Fluted Pumpkin Stem Waste for Phenol and Chlorophenol Adsorption in a Fixed –Bed Micro-Column

Fluted pumpkin stem waste, which is both a waste and pollutant, was chemically modified with ortho-phosphoric acid and used to adsorb phenol and chlorophenol in fixed bed micro column It was found that the carbon bed sorption capacity for phenol and chlorophenol (77.20 and 80.0 mg/g) were higher than the equilibrium sorption studies. The critical bed depth increased with increasing phenol and chlorophenol concentrations. An increase in phenol and chlorophenol concentration from 100 to 200mg/l increased the rate constant, critical bed depth (Do) and bed sorption capacity, for phenol 77.20 to 160.00mg/g and chlorophenol 80.00 to 173.20mg/g. The breakthrough time, exhaustion time, uptake capacity decreased as the flow rate increased. Chlorophenol and phenol uptake capacity increased with increase in bed height. Experimental data for the change in concentration were correlated using the bed depth service time (BDST) model. In all parameters determined chlorophenol had better adsorption than phenol. Fluted pumpkin is the largest consumed vegetable in the West African sub region and therefore, creates one of the major agro waste problems in Nigeria. Preliminary investigations showed that several tons of these waste are produced daily in market places around the country but scarcely useful and therefore create environmental nuisance. The results obtained could be useful for the application of agricultural wastes for phenol and chlorophenol removal from industrial wastewater.