Removal phosphate and copper(II) in the water with activated carbon from apricot stone

ABSTRACTMaster ThesisREMOVAL PHOSPHATE AND COPPER(II) IN THE WATER WİTH ACTİVATEDCARBON FROM APRİCOT STONEH. Suda EKİCİFırat UniversityGraduate School of Natural and Applied SciencesDepartment of Environmental Engineering2007, Page: 74In this study, it has been obtained an activated carbon from apricot stone, is an agricultural waste, byboth carbonization and activation/carbonization processes and the adsorption capacity of obtainedactivated carbon has been investigated for phosphate and copper (II) removal. The carbonizationprocess has been carried out at three temperatures of 500, 600 and 700ºC. At activation/carbonizationprocess with ZnCl2, the temperature has been chosen as 600ºC. Maximum BET surface area has beenfound as 342 m2/g. At experiments that have been performed to determine the effect of pH, adsorbentdosage, contact time, initial solution concentration and temperature, optimum pH, contact time andadsorbent dosage have been determined as 6, 240 minutes and 6 g/l for phosphate, respectively. In theother hand, there has been determined as 6, 120 minutes and 5 g/l for copper (II), respectively. It hasbeen determined that the efficiency of phosphate removal increased and the efficiency of copper (II)removal decreased with increasing temperature. Obtained results have been applied to Freundlich andLangmuir isotherms. At range of 25-45ºC temperature and 10-100 mg/l concentration, removal ofphosphate with apricot stone activated carbon fits Freundlich isotherm better then Langmuir isotherm.At range of 25-45ºC temperature and 30-150 mg/l concentration, the removal of copper(II) withapricot stone activated carbon fits Langmuir isotherm better than Freundlich isotherm. The adsorptioncapacities of apricot stone activated carbon has been calculated for phosphate and copper (II) as 9,96and 24,39 mg/g, respectively. It has been determined that adsorption processes was endothermic forphosphate and exothermic for copper (II). Adsorption is spontaneous for phosphate and copper (II).Keywords: Apricot stone; activated carbon; phosphate; copper (II); adsorption.