Activated carbon production from plum pit shells for oily wastewater treatment

The aim of the research is the production of activated carbon from the plum pit shells in a drum-type steam-gas activation furnace. To study the production of activated carbon, methods were used based on the study of individual patterns, analysis of the specific surface, determination of the porous structure, analysis of the structural-sorption and physicochemical characteristics of the pit shell. The novelty is research on determining the characteristics of activated carbon and the effect of thermal activation temperature in a flow of CO2 and H2O in a mass ratio of 20:80 on the total pore volume. During activation at a process temperature of 780 °C, the surface was destroyed by powerful thermal activation, and as a result, micropores of 8–10 μm formed and a cell configuration arose. The adsorption kinetics showed that the maximum efficiency is achieved at a duration of 0.5 h for chloroform-extracted and 2 h for hexane-extracted oil products, as well as an adsorbent dose of 4 kg/m3. The results obtained in the research of the process of oily wastewater treatment showed that the effect of treatment with the activated plum pit shells (95.5%) is greater than the effect of treatment with coagulants and clays (88.5–71)%.