Adsorption of Lead (II) Ion by Palm Oil Mill Sludge Bio-char Prepared by Pyrolysis: Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies

Yang, Eu Zhi (2020) Adsorption of Lead (II) Ion by Palm Oil Mill Sludge Bio-char Prepared by Pyrolysis: Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Malaysia is one of many countries that has the highest production of Palm oil and the production of palm oil has become one of the most important driving elements for the economy of the country. The by-products of oil palm tree are in the form of empty fruit bunches (EFBs), fibres and shells, fronds, trunk and liquid effluent as well. The by-product such as Palm Oil Mill Sludge has become one of the most expensive and difficult waste to be managed by mill operators. This difficult task occurs due to every batch of production; it generates a large volume in ton which makes these POME difficult to be managed. In order to reduce the waste of this by-product, research was carried out to reduce the POMS waste by utilizing it as a low-cost heavy metal adsorbent. Initially, the POMS waste was carried out with pyrolysis process to become POMS biochar. In this research, the Palm Oil Mill Sludge biochar were used as a adsorbent of Lead (II) ion from aqueous solution and different batch adsorption studies were carried out by altering the biochar dosage, contact time, contact speed and pH values. The optimized parameters were obtained after the batch adsorption studies which has 0.02g of adsorbent, 250RPM of contact speed, 300 minutes of contact time and pH value of 10. Next, the utilization of equilibrium and kinetic models to study the adsorption equilibrium and adsorption kinetics. Utilizing Langmuir Isotherm Model and Freundlich Isotherm Model and kinetic models such as Pseudo-First-Order Model, Pseudo- Second-Order-Model and Intra-Particle Model to analyses the adsorption data. It was proven that the adsorption equilibrium was well described by Langmuir Isotherm Model and the kinetic results was found to be Intra-Particle Model as the rate determining step. Furthermore, characterization of POMS of biochar is another important analysis as well as different surface characteristic can affect the removal efficiency and adsorption capacity. The characterization of the POMS bio-char was carried out using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In a nutshell, the results obtained from different studies proves that the POMS biochar can be used as a low-cost heavy metal adsorbent on Lead (II) ion adsorption.