UTILIZATION SEWAGE SLUDGE URBANAS AS ADSORBENT. EFFECT OF THE METHOD ACTIVATION

Abstract

With the objective to take advantage of sewage sludge that are generated in the Purifying Urban Residual Water Plants (EDARs) of the province of Matanzas, Cuba, in the present work studies a variant of management of these remainders for the activated carbon production. Its application in the removal of phenol allows verifying the effectiveness of these adsorbent ones. Activated carbons were obtained from the activation by chemical method with sulphuric acid and physical method with water steam. In order to understand the processes of adsorption as well as the development of the porous structure of the materials so much to sewage sludge as to activated charcoals produced of these remainders was characterized. In the characterization of activated carbons obtained the methods of test for activated
charcoals reported in Norms CEFIC were used, and the functional superficial groups determined themselves by the Method of Boehm. As complement of the characterization termgravimetric analysis and termgravimetric differential were made indifferently in oxidating and inert atmosphere. The adsorption isotherms were developed to study the capacity of adsorption of phenol and the development of the porosity produced by both activations. The results show that the adsorbent ones obtained present superficial characteristics with tendency to the structural heterogeneity, which is corroborated with the adsorption isotherms. All these characteristics condition the adsorption which favours the effectiveness in the removal of phenol. These results demonstrate the feasibility to elaborate activated carbon from sewage sludge of urban water purifiers.