Engineering pyrolysis biochar via single-step microwave steam activation for hazardous landfill leachate treatment

Lam SS 1 , Yek PNY 2 , Ok YS 3 , Chong CC 4 , Liew RK 4 , Tsang DCW 5 Show all authors , Park YK 6 , Liu Z 7 , Wong CS 8 , Peng W 9

Affiliations 

  • 1 Henan Province Engineering Research Center for Biomass Value-added Products, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China; Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (Akuatrop) & Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (Bio-D Tropika), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. Electronic address: lam@umt.edu.my
  • 2 Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (Akuatrop) & Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (Bio-D Tropika), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia; Department of Engineering, University College of Technology Sarawak, 96000, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 3 Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea
  • 4 Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (Akuatrop) & Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (Bio-D Tropika), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
  • 6 School of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul, 02504, Republic of Korea
  • 7 School of Management, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
  • 8 Department of Engineering, University College of Technology Sarawak, 96000, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 9 Henan Province Engineering Research Center for Biomass Value-added Products, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China. Electronic address: pengwanxi@hau.edu.cn
J Hazard Mater, 2020 05 15;390:121649.
PMID: 31753673 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121649

Abstract

Improving the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of biochar production is crucial to meet increased global market demand. Here, we developed a single-step microwave steam activation (STMSA) as a simplified yet efficient method to produce microwave activated biochar (MAB) from waste palm shell (WPS). The STMSA recorded a higher heating rate (70 °C/min) and higher conversion (45 wt%) of WPS into highly microporous MAB (micropore surface area of 679.22 m2/g) in contrast with the conventional heating approach (≤ 12-17 wt%). The MAB was then applied as biosorbent for hazardous landfill leachate (LL) treatment and the adsorption performance was compared with commercial activated carbon under different pH, adsorbent quantity, adsorbate concentrations, and contact times. The MAB demonstrated high adsorption capacity, achieving maximum adsorption efficiency at 595 mg/g and 65 % removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) with 0.4 g/L of adsorbent amount under optimal acidic conditions (pH ≈ 2-3) after 24 h of contact time. The Freundlich isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic models were well-fitted to explain the equilibrium adsorption and kinetics. The results indicate the viability of STMSA as a fast and efficient approach to produce activated biochar as a biosorbent for the treatment of hazardous landfill leachate.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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