Heavy Metals Removal from Industrial Wastewater by Activated Carbon Prepared from Coconut Shell

Activated carbon produced from coconut shell (ACS) was used as adsorbent to remove Cu 2+ , Fe 2+ , Zn 2+ and Pb 2+ ions from electroplating industrial wastewater. The activated carbon produced was chemically activated with zinc chloride. Batch adsorption experiment was conducted to examine the effects of adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH and stirring rate on adsorption of Cu 2+ , Fe 2+ , Zn 2+ and Pb 2+ from the wastewater. The obtained results showed that, the adsorption of the metal ions was adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH and stirring rate dependent. The optimum adsorbent dosage, stirring rate and pH, were found to be at 1 g, 350 rpm and pH 6 respectively. Kinetic studies showed that pseudo-second-order reaction model best described the adsorption process. The study also showed that activated carbon prepared from coconut shell can be efficiently used as low cost alternative for removal of metal ions.