Utilizing activated biochar for contaminant removal in dairy processing plant wastewater

Abstract

The investigation was intended to examine the adsorption efficiency of Activated biochar to adsorb Contaminants present in dairy processing plant wastewater. Dairy wastewater mostly contains biodegradable organic content, but when directly disposed on environment, it causes hazardous impact on land and aquatic system. Application-activated biochar offers numerous benefits for dairy plant wastewater treatment. Its high surface area and enhanced adsorption capabilities Firstly, in this study the initial concentrations of various Contaminants in the dairy processing plant wastewater were analysed to determine the pollutants load in the wastewater. The prepared activated biochar was used as adsorbents for the adsorption of water pollutants which include pH, EC, TDS, TSS, Turbidity, COD, BOD, Total kjeldahl nitrogen, Phosphorus, Lead, Zinc present in the wastewater sample. 18 treatments were carried out using different dosages of biochar i.e. 2g, 6g and 10g in 1 litre of wastewater sample at three different retention times of about 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours. Maximum adsorption was achieved using Physically activated biochar at 10g dosage per litre of the sample at 3 hours retention time. It was found that Physically activated biochar has the higher efficiency towards the water pollutant removal compared to Chemically activated biochar. Results showed that activated biochar is a cost-effective and efficient method for removing water contaminants.