Copyright © 2010 SciRes. JWARP Phenol Adsorption from Crude and Active Coals

The aim of the present work is the removal of phenol by adsorption on a raw and activated crude or hard coal (C) with NaOH, ZnCl2 and H3PO4 in the region of Bechar (south-western Algeria). The development of ad-sorbents from precursors is inexpensive, requiring innovative techniques using concepts developed relevant to the physical handling, processing physical and chemical activation of coal into an activated coal, with the ability of fixing aromatic organic pollutants, namely phenol. The maximum surface area obtained from the activation with ZnCl2, H3PO4 and NaOH were 1000, 850 and 3000 m2 / g, respectively. The results clearly showed that hard coal activation greatly improved phenol fixing. The rate of phenol adsorption by activated hard coal is much higher than those obtained from raw coal through its holding capacity. Activated carbon porosity with NaOH is much higher than those obtained from coal activated by ZnCl2 and H3PO4. Activated coal can be an effective means of confinement in industrial disposal sites, avoiding migration of organic pollutants contained in these wastes to groundwater via the adsorption phenomenon. The development of such effective barriers, based on local resources can help solve the problem of water contamination