Activated charcoal production from tree pruning in the Amazon region of Brazil for the treatment of gray water

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this work was to obtain, through the tree pruning pyrolysis, coal to be used in the removal of pollutants present in gray waters. The coal obtained during the process was used in a gray water filtration column and dye adsorption test. In this investigation it was proposed the treatment of gray water by the following series steps: (a) coagulation/ flocculation, (b) decantation, (c) sand filtration and (d) coal filtration column. The maximum coal yield was 60.10% obtained at 360 ºC and heating rate of 30 ºC/min. The gray water polishing using the coal obtained from the tree pruning pyrolysis process was efficient in the removal of the studied analytical parameters. For turbidity, COD, total solids and residual chlorine parameters, the removal values were 99, 98, 71 and 100 %, respectively. The charcoal from the filtration column was responsible for removing organ matter of gray water.