Agroindustrial waste as adsorbents for the removal of inorganic and organic compounds in multicomponent systems

  • Acelas Soto, Nancy Yamile (PI)
  • Florez Yepes, Elizabeth (PI)
  • Forgionny Flórez, María Angélica (PI)
  • Ocampo, Raúl (PI)
  • Ulloa Arrieta, Moisés Adolfo (Research Assistant (Undergraduate Student))
  • Ospina Montoya, Valentina (Research Assistant (Undergraduate Student))

Project Details

Description

The increase in water contamination over the years represents a big problem; since it arises as a consequence of growing industrial and economic development. The discharge of different industrial sectors into water sources is responsible for the introduction of pollutants such as heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Hg, etc), colorants and emerging pollutants; including antibiotics. Wastewater constitutes a multicomponent mixture of different types of pollutants. As a consensus of the literature, it is known that the presence of these polluting compounds in water sources generates adverse effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and on the health of human beings. In this sense, it has become necessary to search for and develop methodologies that allow the removal of the different contaminants from the water resource. There are several methods that have been proposed for water treatment, however, some of them entail high economic costs. As an efficient and easily applied technology, adsorption has found quite a lot of use. One of the challenges in adsorption processes is the development of an adsorbent material with optimal physicochemical properties for the removal of contaminants; as well as the improvement of the process itself. Among the proposed adsorbents, carbonaceous materials are widely used, because they can be prepared from agro-industrial waste such as fruit seeds, pine sawdust, rice husks, sugar cane bagasse, coffee pulp and pulp. potato, orange, banana, mango peels, among many others; minimizing the impact of these residues on the environment. Among these biomasses, fruit and vegetable peels are of great interest since large volumes of these wastes are produced from the food industry, generating an environmental pollution problem as a result of their inadequate disposal. Therefore, with this research work, the adsorption capacity of carbonaceous materials prepared from fruit and vegetable peels of regional origin will be evaluated, for the removal of heavy metals, dyes and/or antibiotics in aqueous solution in multicomponent systems.

Objective

 General Objective Evaluate the removal of organic and inorganic contaminants in multicomponent systems through the use of a carbonaceous material produced from agro-industrial waste.  Specific Objectives- Develop a low-cost adsorbent material through the thermal transformation of biomass such as shells of fruits and vegetables for later use as adsorbent.- Characterize the physicochemical properties of carbonaceous materials obtained from biomass.- Establish the adsorption capacity of carbonaceous materials in individual and multicomponent systems.- Determine the adsorption kinetics in systems in batch, to characterize the adsorption process of contaminants on the prepared adsorbents.- Determine the fundamental relationships between the physicochemical properties of the material and its adsorption capacity.- Characterize the interactions that govern the adsorption process of the studied contaminants on e adsorbents of a carbonaceous nature, at an experimental and theoretical level.

Expected results

The development of this research project will have a positive impact on the environment and society, through the implementation of methods that contribute to the reduction of solid waste dumping; improvement of water quality; the reduction of risks to human health and the use of existing natural resources. In addition, it will benefit the research groups involved through the management of research networks and cooperative work at an academic and scientific level.
Short titleMulticomponente
AcronymMulti
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/02/2130/06/22

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