Utilization of Rubber Shell-Derived Activated Carbon for Ammonia Reduction in Synthetic Wastewater: An Adsorption Isotherm Study

Siswanti; Nabilla Diandra Putri; Novia Alia Devi; Dwi Amalia

doi:10.31315/eksergi.v23i2.16700

Authors

Siswanti Chemical Engineering, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, 55283, Indonesia
Nabilla Diandra Putri Chemical Engineering, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, 55283, Indonesia
Novia Alia Devi Chemical Engineering, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, 55283, Indonesia
Dwi Amalia Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 010-0810, Japan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31315/eksergi.v23i2.16700

Keywords:

adsorption, ammonia, clean water and sanitation, isotherm, rubber shell

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the largest rubber producing countries, where ammonia is used as an anticoagulant in rubber processing. Ammonia contributes to industrial wastewater contamination, with a maximum allowable level of 5 mg/L, thus requiring treatment methods such as adsorption using activated carbon. This study evaluated the potential of rubber shell activated carbon to reduce ammonia levels in synthetic wastewater through variations in adsorbent mass and to determine the most suitable adsorption isotherm model. Rubber shell activated carbon was prepared by carbonization at 500℃ for 1 hour and activated using 40% phosphoric acid (H3PO4) with a ratio of 1:4 (w:v) for 24 hours. BET analysis showed that the activated carbon had a surface area of 324.26 m²/g. The optimum adsorption conditions were achieved using a 2.5 g adsorbent mass with a final ammonia concentration of 4.788 mg/L, adsorption efficiency of 88%, adsorption capacity of 1.409 mg/g, and equilibrium time of 60 minutes. The adsorption process was best described by the Freundlich isotherm model, as indicated by the error analysis results (R2 = 0.9632 , RMSE = 0.0111 , MSE = 0.0001, SSE = 0.0006 ), suggesting multilayer adsorption on a heterogeneous surface.

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