Utilizing Coffee Husk Biochar as an Effective Adsorbent for Ammonium Removal in Groundwater
Main Article Content
Abstract
The study investigated the performance of a novel biochar derived from coffee husks (BCFH) and its alkaline-activated product (BCFH-NaOH) for ammonium removal in the aqueous solution. Several batch experiments were conducted with the synthetic solution to determine the adsorption properties of the biochars. At the initial ammonium concentration of 50 mg/L, the optimal dosage for both materials was 10 g/L, while the ideal pH range was 4–9. The equilibration adsorption time on both materials is within 30 minutes, indicating their high practical applicability. Both the pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetic were applied successfully to describe the adsorption kinetics (R² > 0.95). The isotherms can be defined by both Langmuir and Freundlich models, showing that ammonium removal by biochars is a complex process. BCFH-NaOH showed better performance, with the maximum adsorption capacity reaching 9.97 mg-NH₄/g, compared to 6.64 mg-NH₄/g of BCFH. Finally, BCFH-NaOH was tested with a practical groundwater sample (C₀ = 11.5 mg-NH₄/L), achieving a sorption efficiency of up to 80 % while eliminating most of the hardness. These results show that the modified coffee husk biochar could be applied as a low-cost, environmentally friendly adsorbent for ammonium removal.
Keywords
Agricultural waste, coffee husks biochar, ammonium removal, groundwater
Article Details
References
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[2] D. N. G. Ngo, X.-Y. Chuang, C.-P. Huang, L.-C. Hua, C. Huang, Compositional characterization of nine agricultural waste biochars: The relations between alkaline metals and cation exchange capacity with ammonium adsorption capability, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 11(3) (2023) 110003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110003
[3] Panuccio, M. R., Marra, F., Maffia, A., Mallamaci, C., & Muscolo, A. Recycling of agricultural (orange and olive) bio-wastes into ecofriendly fertilizers for improving soil and garlic quality. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances, 15, 200083 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2022.200083
[4] S. H. Lee, W. C. Lum, J. G. Boon, L. Kristak, P. Antov, M. Pędzik, T. Rogoziński, H. R. Taghiyari, M. A. R. Lubis, W. Fatriasari, S. M. Yadav, A. Chotikhun, A. Pizzi, Particleboard from agricultural biomass and recycled wood waste: a review, Journal of Materials Research and Technology 20 (2022) 4630-4658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2022.08.166
[5] E. Hsu, Cost-benefit analysis for recycling of agricultural wastes in Taiwan, Waste Management 120 (2021) 424-432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.09.051
[6] J. Lindenbaum, Identification of sources of ammonium in groundwater using stable nitrogen and boron isotopes in Nam Du, Hanoi, Department of Geology, Lund University, 2012.
[7] T. M. Vu, V. T. Trinh, D. P. Doan, H. T. Van, T. V. Nguyen, S. Vigneswaran, H.H. Ngo, Removing ammonium from water using modified corncob biochar, Sci Total Environ 579 (2017) 612-619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.050
[8] D. Q. Truong, P. Loganathan, L. M. Tran, D. L. Vu, T. V. Nguyen, S. Vigneswaran, G. Naidu, Removing ammonium from contaminated water using Purolite C100E: batch, column, and household filter studies, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int 29(12) (2022) 16959-16972. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16945-1
[9] L. Lin, G. Zhang, X. Liu, Z. H. Khan, W. Qiu, Z. Song, Synthesis and adsorption of FeMnLa-impregnated biochar composite as an adsorbent for As(III) removal from aqueous solutions, Environmental Pollution 247 (2019) 128-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.01.044
[10] O. Moradi, The removal of ions by functionalized carbon nanotube: equilibrium, isotherms and thermodynamic studies, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly 25 (2011) 229-240.
[11] Q. An, Z. Li, Y. Zhou, F. Meng, B. Zhao, Y. Miao, S. Deng, Ammonium removal from groundwater using peanut shell based modified biochar: Mechanism analysis and column experiments, Journal of Water Process Engineering 43 (2021) 102219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.102219
[12] X. Hu, X. Zhang, H. H. Ngo, W. Guo, H. Wen, C. Li, Y. Zhang, C. Ma, Comparison study on the ammonium adsorption of the biochars derived from different kinds of fruit peel, Science of the Total Environment 707 (2020) 135544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135544
[13] X. Gai, H. Wang, J. Liu, L. Zhai, S. Liu, T. Ren, H. Liu, Effects of feedstock and pyrolysis temperature on biochar adsorption of ammonium and nitrate, PLOS ONE 9(12) (2014) e113888. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113888
[14] X. Li, X. Jiang, Y. Song, S. X. Chang, Coexistence of polyethylene microplastics and biochar increases ammonium sorption in an aqueous solution, Journal of Hazardous Materials 405 (2021) 124260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124260
[15] I. Standards, ISO 7150-1:1984, International Organization for Standardization, 1984.
[16] M. T. Vu, H.-P. Chao, T. Van Trinh, T. T. Le, C.-C. Lin, H. N. Tran, Removal of ammonium from groundwater using NaOH-treated activated carbon derived from corncob wastes: Batch and column experiments, Journal of Cleaner Production 180 (2018) 560-570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.104
[17] N.-T. Vu, K.-U. Do, Insights into adsorption of ammonium by biochar derived from low temperature pyrolysis of coffee husk, Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 13(3) (2021) 2193-2205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01337-9
[18] N. V. Phuong, N. K. Hoang, L. V. Luan, L. V. Tan, A. Barker, Evaluation of NH4+ adsorption capacity in water of coffee husk-derived biochar at different pyrolysis temperatures, International Journal of Agronomy 2021 (2021) 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/1463814