Benzene, toluene and xylene(BTX) compounds are toxic organic compounds that appear in underground water resources as results of leakage from underground fuel tanks and also improper waste discharge of oil and petrochemical industries. In this work, Palm date pits (Majhool) were used as the precursor in the preparation of activated carbon. The palm pits were activated and impregnated using different chemicals to achieve the best surface area. Adsorption of BTX compounds from water using activated carbon and impregnated by FeCl 3 was investigated in terms of contact time, adsorbent dose, temperature, pH and BTX concentration. Results indicated that the adsorption effectiveness was increased with increasing the pH, dose amount and the contact time. On the other hand, the adsorption efficiency was found to increase with decreasing the temperature. The equilibrium adsorption isotherm was explained using Langmuir and Freundlich models. BTX adsorption was better represented by Langmuir model. The kinetic of adsorption was studied using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion. It was found that the adsorption followed pseudo-second order. Adsorption thermodynamic parameters for BTX adsorption such as standard enthalpy ΔH°, standard entropy ΔS° and standard free energy ΔG° were calculated. The shape, size and surface area of the samples were determined using SEM, iodine number and BET. The effect of activating agent on the adsorption efficiency of BTX was also studied.

Title

Journal of Materials and Environmental Science

Publisher

Mohammed Premier University

Publisher Country

Morocco

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

None

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

6

Year

2015

Pages

2853-2870