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Membrane Water Treatment Volume 9, Number 5, September 2018 , pages 293-300 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/mwt.2018.9.5.293 |
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KOH activated pine tree needle leaves biochar as effective sorbent for VOCs in water |
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Nshirirungu Theoneste, Moon Hyun Kim, Kurt Louis Solis, Minoh Park and Yongseok Hong
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| Abstract | ||
| The removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water using KOH-activated pine tree needle leaves biochar is considered a cost effective and efficient process. In this study, pine tree needle leaves were mixed with 0, 50, 100 and 200% (KOH weight/feedstock weight) of KOH, respectively. Then, the mixture was pyrolyzed at 500 degree celcius for 6 hrs. The adsorption characteristics of 10 VOCs to the biochar were tested. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of the KOH activated biochar was highest in 100% KOH-biochar. The VOC removal efficiencies of 50% and 200% KOH activated biochar were similar and the 0% KOH activated biochar showed the lowest VOC removal. The FTIR results showed that increasing the amount of KOH seemed to enhance the formation of various functional groups, such as -OH, -C=C, -O. The adsorption strength of 10 VOCs to the KOH activated biochar seemed to be increasing by the increase of the solubility of VOCs. This may suggest that the adsorption is taking place in hydrophilic sites of the biochar surface. The KOH activated pine tree needle leaves biochar can be an effective sorbent for VOCs removal in water and 100% KOH mixing seemed to provide better sorption capacity. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| pine tree needle leaves; adsorption; VOCs; activated-KOH biochar; sorbent | ||
| Address | ||
| Nshirirungu Theoneste, Moon Hyun Kim: Institute of Department of Environmental Engineering, Daegu University, 201 Daegudae-ro, Gyeongsan-si,Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea Kurt Louis Solis, Minoh Park and Yongseok Hong:Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong City, 30019, Republic of Korea | ||
