Wastewater Treatment Using Biochar Technology

Abstract

Water is one of the life requirements for individuals and societies, and it affects the global economy. The contamination of water is a worldwide problem that threatens the environment and poses abundant hazardous effects on the quality of water and aquatic species. Numerous techniques are known to remove the contaminants from wastewater. Biochar-based material has a novel ability to remediate wastewater due to its distinctive physicochemical properties. It has been considered a promising candidate material for the removal of pollutants through adsorption in the practical application processes. Researchers have reported numerous methods to modify the biochar to enhance their adsorption efficiency. Biochar is considered a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and sustainable sorbent that has an extraordinary potential to proficiently remove potentially toxic organic and inorganic pollutants from water and wastewater. Adsorption is one of the most efficient techniques to remove pollutants from water and wastewater. These adsorption processes include several mechanisms for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants as discussed in this chapter. Modified biochar, known also as engineered/designed biochar, has a larger surface area, high adsorption capacity, and predominant surface functional groups that gave a new type of biochar with a great application approach in different wastewater treatment plants compared to natural or pristine biochar. Additionally, the properties of biochar are depended on the type of feedstocks materials and pyrolysis conditions. In this chapter, the currently available research regarding wastewater treatment using biochar technologies has been reviewed. Specifically, we have critically reviewed the (1) wastewater treatment; (2) production and characterization of biochar; (3) application of biochar for wastewater treatment concerning its role for removal of organic and inorganic pollutants; (4) capacity and mechanism of adsorbing hazardous pollutants from wastewater using biochar. Moreover, the economics and potential risks of biochar in wastewater treatment have been also discussed. This chapter demonstrates the predominant scientific chances for a comprehensive understanding of using biochar as an emerging technique for wastewater treatments. Finally, we also introduced some conclusions and recommendations for further work to enhance the efficiency of biochar for wastewater treatment.