Atrazine removal in aqueous solutions using activated carbon from peach stone

Abstract Activated carbon is commonly used as a material for contaminant-adsorption processes in aqueous systems. However, its use is more restricted to charcoal than to coal, for the most part, in view of the fact of the higher cost (~ 40%) if the mineral is a fossil fuel which needs to be extracted from the earth by mining. For this reason, the peach stone that comes from alimentary industrial tailings can be a good choice for the separation of pollutants from aqueous suspensions and other soluble substances. The purpose of this research was the development of a low-cost filter, using stones to remove atrazine from water. Appraisal and characterization studies were performed along with batch experiments to investigate dosing effects of the activated carbon, atrazine concentration, contact time, and adsorption pH on removal procedures. From the results of the experiment, an excellent removal of the analyte in question was observed under conditions that can be considered as close as possible to the environment, such as pH = 6.5, room temperature and 10 minutes of agitation time, always choosing the best alternative with the lowest cost of energy and time. Batch system application has been recommended as versatile for utilization in seasonal problems such as pesticide contamination.

摘要：活性炭通常被用作水相体系中污染物吸附过程的常用材料。然而在多数应用场景中，其使用更偏向木炭基活性炭而非煤基活性炭，这主要是由于若以需通过采矿获取的化石燃料矿物为原料，成本将高出约40%。基于此，取自食品工业尾矿的桃核便可作为从水相悬浮液及其他可溶性物质中分离污染物的优质备选材料。本研究旨在开发一种低成本过滤材料，利用桃核去除水中的莠去津(atrazine)。研究通过评估与表征分析，并结合批量吸附实验，探究了活性炭投加量、莠去津初始浓度、接触时间以及吸附pH值对污染物去除过程的影响。实验结果表明，在尽可能贴近实际水环境的条件下，即pH=6.5、室温以及10分钟搅拌时间下，可实现对目标分析物的优异去除效果，且全程选用能耗与时间成本最低的最优方案。本研究推荐将批量吸附体系应用于农药污染等季节性污染问题，其具备良好的通用性。