Adsorption of Lead Ions onto Chemical Activated Carbon Derived from Waste Tire Pyrolysis Char: Equilibrium and Kinetics Studies

The environmental impacts caused by the disposal of waste tires on land and impacts of metals in water is of great concern. In this study activated carbon was prepared from waste tire pyrolysis char using a chemical activation process where KOH was used as an activating agent at 600 °C in a tube furnace. The characterization techniques namely proximate analysis and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) were used. The adsorption results revealed that waste tire activated carbon (WTAC) was more effective than waste tire pyrolysis char (WTPC) on the removal of lead ions from aqueous solution. The effect of adsorption process parameters such as: adsorbent dosage and pH on adsorption of lead ions onto WTPC and WTAC were determined and optimized. A high lead ions removal efficiency was obtained at following process conditions namely: pH of 7 and adsorbent dosage of 0.25g/100ml. Adsorption isotherms studies revealed that the experimental data was best fitted with Freundlich isotherm model. The proximate analysis and XRF analysis confirmed that chemical activation of waste tire pyrolysis char took place. Keywords: Waste tire activated carbon, Adsorption, Adsorption isot