Removal of Heavy Metal Ions (Zinc, Nickel and Lead) in Water using Commercial Activated Carbon

Loo, Jia Choon (2018) Removal of Heavy Metal Ions (Zinc, Nickel and Lead) in Water using Commercial Activated Carbon. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Heavy metal has been a serious pollutant ever since the industrial revolution. Recent increase in number of factories in Malaysia has caused the concern of heavy metal pollution. Heavy metal will cause health hazard and damage to human, animals and plants. Therefore, they have to be removed from the water before the water can be released into nature. Adsorption by using adsorbent is one of the most eco-friendly and efficient ways to remove heavy metal ions in water. Activated carbons are among the most efficient adsorbent due to its porous structure with high surface area. In this study, commercial activated carbon was used to remove heavy metal ion in aqueous solution. The types of heavy metals studied in this project are Zinc, Nickel and Lead. The purposes of this study are to determine the effect of pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time on the performance of activated carbon and to determine the best fitting isotherm model for the commercial activated carbon. Batch adsorption was carried out at room temperature where the pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time were altered to study their effect on the activated carbon used. The results show that activated carbon is capable of removing Zn, Ni and Pb. As the pH increases, the percent of removal also increases. The optimum pH for the removal all three metals were found to be pH6. When the dosage of adsorbent increases, the percent removal also increases. Longer contact time will also result in higher percent removal. The data recorded were studied by using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. The experimental data fits better to the Langmuir isotherm compared to the Freundlich isotherm. . It was also found that the maximum monolayer capacity for Zn, Ni and Pb are 25.00 mg g-1, 1.477 mg g-1 and 4.946 mg g-1 respectively.