Waste biomass gasification char derived activated carbon for pharmaceutical carbamazepine removal from water

Abstract

Carbamazepine (CBM), a widely occurring pharmaceutical, has been removed from water by upgrading a waste biomass char from a 300 MW biomass gasification power station plant operating in Indonesia. The fuel source is the waste residue palm kernel shell (PKS) after the palm oil extraction process constituting over one million tonnes per year. The resulting waste power station biomass char (CPKS) from the power station gasification process has been  converted into high quality activated carbon by carbon dioxide activation as a sequestration opportunity, at different temperatures ranging from 700 to 900°C for 1 or 1.5 hours. The highest BET surface area was 711.5 m2/g and this activated carbon was able to adsorb 1.14 mmol/g or 268.7 mg CBM/g. Equilibrium and kinetic studies have been undertaken.