Tenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Organic and inorganic salts are compounds found in water discharges due to their wide industrial use. In great concentrations, they can affect the environment. Therefore, the use of activated charcoal can be considered as an alternative for its treatment. In this investigation, activated charcoals were produced from cocoa shells, considering that this fruit is one of the most cultivated agricultural products in Santander - Colombia. Pyrolysis was accomplished through a design of factorial 23 experiments. The response variable of the process was the specific surface area given by BET tests. For the study of adsorption quality of methylene blue and ferric chloride, three activated carbons A, B and C were used with surface areas of 990.8, 1217.7 and 969.2 m2 / g, respectively. The three carcoals were prepared according to the optimal design conditions, being 480 ° C, 1.5 RI and 30 minutes of reaction. From the analysis of the FTIR spectroscopy technique, it was possible to determine that the adsorption depends on the content of the functional groups OH, C = O and -C-O. The experimental data were adjusted to the adsorption models of Freundlich, Langmuir and Telkim, using regression methods. The classification of the isotherms was established according to the best fit of the experimental data with the coefficient of determination R2 and sum of square errors SSE.