Nitrate removal from agricultural effluent using sugarcane bagasse active nanosorbent

Abstract

The increase in population and the growth of agricultural activities, and consequently the increase in demand for safe water, has made the use of unconventional water to solve the problems of water scarcity very efficient. Here to investigate the removal of nitrate from agricultural drains, sugarcane bagasse biochar was used as an adsorbent. This study includes the effect of three parameters: heating time in the microwave, microwave power and weight ratio of KOH to biochar (KBC) to remove nitrate from contaminated wastewater. First, the optimal conditions for the preparation of sugarcane bagasse sorbent were investigated, which includes 0.2 g of sorbent in 150 ml of nitrate solution, biochar production time of 2 h at 600°C and pH equal to 7. According to the results, the microwave power of 400 W, activation time of 10 min and weight ratio (KBC) had the highest percentage of nitrate absorption (equal 75.3%).