Adsorption characteristics of mango (magnifera indica) seed shell activated carbon for removing phenol from wastewater

Adsorption characteristics of mango (Magnifera indica) seed shell activated carbon for phenol rem-oval from wastewater were examined by experimental single stage batch operation. Contact time, stirring rate, adsorbent dose, pH, initial phenol concentration, carbon particle size and impregnation ratio of ZnCl2 to the seed shells were the variables controlling the adsorption rates. The optimum carbon dose was 10 g/L of water for both Chur-kpev (local) and Dausha (improved) varieties at stirring rate of 98 rpm and pH range of 4 - 8. Phenol removal increased with initial phenol concentration for activated Dausha 1:2, Chur-kpev 1:2 and Chur-kpev 1:3, and initial phenol concentration of 0.123 mg/L was chosen as the optimum level. The phenol adsorbed increased with contact time, and 120 minutes was the optimum time for phenol adsorption. The amount of phenol adsorb-ed was inversely proportional to the carbon particle size, and the optimum particle size range of 150 - 300 μm was adopted for phenol removal. The percentage of phenol adsorbed and adsorptive capacity of the activated carbons decreased with the levels of ZnCl2 impregnation. The mass ratio of 1 part of ZnCl2 to 2 parts of mango seed shells (1:2) for the two mango varieties was the best impregnation ratio. The activated chur-kpev variety exhibited best adsorption characteristics for phenol removal from the wastewate