Abstract:
Adsorption of pollutants from wastewater by demineralized and synthesized biochar derived from paper waste sludge has been received significant interest in recent studies. however there has been minimal research on non-demineralized paper waste sludge derived biochar uses for pollutant adsorption. The main focus of this study to prepare a neat non-demineralized paper waste sludge and a magnetized variant by the introduction of Fe3+ and Fe2+ salts to the feedstock and subsequent slow pyrolysis.
Adsorption studies were performed to assess the efficiency of biochar’s removal of phosphorus, selenate, and methylene blue as a function of carbonization temperature, biochar loading, adsorbate concentration, pH, and contact time. MBC-SPS 450 was observed to be the best performing adsorbate with adsorption capacities of phosphorus 48.83 mg/g, Selenium 58.43 mg/g, and Methylene blue 5.92 mg/g. MBC SPS 450℃ was selected as the desirable adsorbent due to excellent adsorption efficiencies, lower carbonization temperature, magnetic separation from solution, and low loading requirements with an optimum loading of 5 g/L. The biochar can be regenerated up to three times with excellent efficiencies observed. Its intrinsic characteristics make it a good adsorbent that can be regenerated and reused with high efficiencies observed. The results observed demonstrates paper waste sludge-derived biochar as a good low-cost alternative to activated carbon adsorbent in wastewater treatment with additional benefits that its part of closing the loop in the fiber recycling process.
