Adsorpsi limbah krom tanning dengan adsorben karbon aktif dari palm kernel cake (PKC)

The leather tanning process, a complex process and consists of several steps, where the process involves a large number of water and chemical substances which can cause pollution. The current study provided an investigation on the activated carbon derived from Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) used in the adsorption technology. This activated carbon was considered for reducing total chromium content and BOD, increasing the pH and color of the tanneries wastewater, especially in chrome tanning process. Four variations of activated carbon weight (1 g, 2 g, 3 g, 4 g, and 5 g) were tested in three different temperatures (40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C) for 30 minutes. After that, the tannery wastewater, which had been adsorbed, was allowed to stand for 24 hours and then filtered. Next, observations on the total chromium content, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) level, pH, and color of the obtained filtrate were performed. The results showed that the activated carbon successfully adsorbed the pollutant compounds by reducing the total chromium and BOD levels, increasing the pH and color of tanneries wastewater. In more detail, the findings revealed that the activated carbon could raise the pH level to 6.6, reduced BOD levels to 50.7 mg/L with 87.03% of efficiency, and reduced the total chrome content to 1.03 mg/L with 99.87% of efficiency. Besides, the process resulted in tannery wastewater discoloration, from what was originally dark blue to colorless. To conclude, the adsorption for chrome tanning waste adsorption was found performing optimally by using 4 gram of activated carbon at 50 °C.