PRODUCTION OF ACTIVATED CARBON USING COCONUT SHELL AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BREWERY WASTE WATER

ABSTRACT Wastewater standard and quality has become a popular issue, as regulatory standard are required to be met, for environmental protection and health hazard management. One of the many types of treatment to improve wastewater and water quality is by using activated carbon. The purpose of this study is to produce activated carbon from coconut shell for wastewater treatment and characterization of the brewery wastewater to be treated. The result of the characterization of the wastewater revealed that the pollutant present were in excess of the permissible limit set by Effluent Limitation Standard in Nigeria For All Categories of Industries; Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (120≤250 mg/l), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) (30≤40mg/l), and Total Solids (2030mg/l). These three parameters were found in excess; COD (992mg/l), BOD (3280mg/l) and TS (3855.79mg/l). The coconut shell underwent carbonization in a muffle furnace at a temperature of 600°C for one hour after which the sample was crushed and sieved to obtain uniform standard granular particles. Coconut shell-based activated carbon can be utilized for wastewater treatment application, though not covered in this scope, but this work have left room for further work of using the activate carbon produced to remove the contaminants in the brewery wastewater to meet regulatory standards before discharge to receiving water bodies of land.