Removal of Heavy Metals from Produced Water Using Activated Carbon from Coconut Husk Enhanced with Graphene Oxide

Abstract

Produced water, which contains a high amount of hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and other pollutants, is one of the major waste streams in the Niger Delta's oilfields and refineries. The treatment of produced water can be done in a variety of ways, including physical (desalination, membrane separation and, adsorption), chemical (precipitation, absorption and, oxidation), and biological. The heavy metals and contaminants in the wastewater pose a threat to living creatures and the environment. This research evaluates the effectiveness of Activated carbon modified with Graphene oxide, a new thriving material for researchers derived from graphite, to improve the adsorption capacity of coconut husk using the “wet impregnation technique” for the removal of heavy metals from produced water. Batch adsorption of the pollutant was studied for the Activated Carbon, and the modified activated carbon (AC-GO) at a time intervals, for each of the adsorbents. The removal efficiency of the adsorbent was found to increase proportionately from 6.71% to 92.96%, 3.01% to 52.23% and 51.28% to 67.77% for Cd, Ni and Pb respectively with increasing contact time. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) analysed the treated produced water samples. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics studies of the adsorbed metals were evaluated and correlated with empirical models.