THE PREPARATION OF ACTIVATED CARBONS FROM OLIVE MILL WASTE WATER BY CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL ACTIVATION.

Olive-mill waste water is produced in large quantities during the manufacture process of the olive oil in mills. This by-product has been used as raw material to produce activated carbons by both chemical and physical activation methods. In the first case, ZnCl₂ and H₃PO₄ were used as activating agent and in the second case, CO₂ at 600 °C for different periods of time. Obtained results indicate that the chemical activation with ZnCl₂ and H₃PO₄ at 600 °C, in an inert atmosphere, yielded activated carbons with the highest area and more developed microporosity, mesoporosity and macroporosity. Adsorption of rate of phenol onto activated olive-mill was studied as a function of several physical-chemical parameters such as temperature, initial concentration in solution and hydrodynamic conditions. Equilibrium parameters of adsorption have been determined using Langmuir constant K [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]