Modified oil palm industry solid waste as a potential adsorbent for lead removal

Abstract

As one of the largest oil palm producers in the world, Malaysia also produces the most abundant residues of palm oil known as empty fruit bunch (EFB). Mismanaging of this residue such as being unused and disposed to sanitary landfills will put the environments in danger. Hence, modification and environmental application of EFB for the pollutant removal is a hot research topic in recent trend. This study involves modification of palm oil industrial residues as EFB-activated carbon and further used as an adsorbent for the removal of lead. The physicochemical property of the EFB-activated carbon was assessed using SEM, FTIR and BET. The adsorption conditions i.e., pH, adsorbent dose, and contact time for the effective removal of lead were optimized. The optimum reaction conditions for lead adsorption by the EFB-activated carbon were 10 g/L of adsorbent, pH 1.0 and 15 min as contact time for the effective removal of lead in aqueous solution. The maximum lead concentration that has removed successfully was 92.24 mg/L under the optimum condition. This study may provide solution to manage the EFB residuals generated from palm oil industries and lead contaminated in the aquatic environment.

Keywords

• Adsorption
• Activated carbon
• Lead
• Optimization
• Palm oil empty fruit bunch
• Solid waste management