PRODUCTION OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM RICE HUSKS AND ITS ADSORPTION CHARACTERISTIC FOR Pb2+ ION

Currently, the method in removing of heavy metals is expensive. Activated carbon as adsorbent is abundantly available and cheap compare to the other. In wastewater treatment, the adsorption process is effective in removal of heavy metals at trace level. Conventional waste treatment methods like coagulation, chemical oxidation have not been successful because these methods are stable to light, oxidizing agents, while adsorption has come out as the cheapest, most profitable and most efficient one. The potential of the rice husks as the activated carbon was studied using Pb2+ ions as the heavy metal treated. This study is aimed to study the feasibility ofusing activated carbon from rice husks as industrial adsorbent to remove lead from its aqueous solution. These objectives were achieved via batch experiment whereby a set ofmetal solution is added with the activated carbon produced and the adsorption test was carried out. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (A.A.S) was used to determine the concentration of the identified metal in the particular solution. In addition, the effect of the initial rice husks particles size, carbonization temperature and duration, effect ofpH for activation process, and percentage yield are studied. At the end of the experiment, the particle size of 250um, with carbonization temperature of 700°C andduration of 1 hour, pHvalue of 12 for activation process was determined to be the best parameters in order to produce the most efficient activated carbon in this experiment