African Star Apple (Chrysophyllum albidium) Seed Processing into Activated Carbon for Fe and Cu removal from Wastewater.

Abstract

The quest for processing of non-edible parts of agricultural produce into activated carbon for wastewater treatment is in vogue due to its addition of nothing detrimental to the treated water. This study therefore explores the potential of activated carbon produced from African star apple seeds to adsorb Fe and Cu ions from municipal wastewater. Column adsorption technique was adopted to examine the effects of packing length on the adsorption of Fe and Cu from the wastewater. The result of the Fe content of the wastewater reduced from 3.10 mg/L to 2.95 mg/L at the packing length of 10 mm and to 2.55 mg/L at the packing length of 20 mm. The Cu content also reduced from 5.95 mg/L to 4.95 mg/L at the packing length of 10 mm and to 4.55 mg/L at the packing length of 20 mm. The results obtained show that the activated carbon produced is a good adsorbent and that adsorption of the two metal ions depends on the packing length of the carbon.