Coal Adsorbents from Man-Made Waste to Reduce the Emission of Pharmaceutical Substances into the Environment

Abstract

Preservation of the environment and resources has gained momentous proportions nowadays due to increase in the population, growth in industrial activities as well as enhanced production of hazardous waste thereof. One of the greatest environmental challenges is the development of an environmentally friendly, cutting-edge technology to prevent the release of pharmaceutical products into the environment via gaseous and liquid effluents from this industry. Households effluent often comprises high concentrations of drugs and their metabolites that are not completely converted in developing organisms. The objective of this research was to prepare coal adsorbents from byproducts of canning, cotton and oil-refining industries, characterize them by methods of physicochemical analysis and test their cleaning properties for pharmaceutical agent pollutants. Thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate the production of activated carbons from plant waste substances. Removal percentages of pharmaceuticals and volatile organic compounds model mixtures were evaluated. Chemical modified peach seed shell carbonizate was used for obtaining activated carbon with developed mesoporous structure, the specific surface area of 835 m²/g and a methylene blue sorption capacity of 186 mg/g; at that, adsorption layer from this carbon guaranteed not less than 97% uptake of acetone and metylchloride and up to 90% for methanol and toluene. Waste water treatment decreased COD by 50% or more to meet the discharge code.