Removal of Emulsified Oil in Wastewater by Corn Cob Carbon

Abstract

Oil pollution is a serious environmental concern which is caused by rapid industrial development around the world. In this study, corn cob carbon was used as a natural adsorbent for emulsified oil wastewater remediation. Three parameters that were studied include contact time, dosage of corn cob carbon and concentration of emulsified oil wastewater. The physical and chemical structures of raw and corn cob carbon were characterized. The corn cob carbon showed good efficiency in emulsified oil removal with a percentage of 96% at 2 hours contact time, 1 g of corn cob carbon and 5% of emulsified oil wastewater concentration. The apparent porosity of corn cob carbon was the reason for the sinking of emulsified oil particles absorbed on the surface of corn cob carbon. TGA shown 3.60% and 58.17% of mass loss within the first and second thermal decomposition, respectively. The functional groups of corn cob samples are C-H,-C≡C-, C=C,-C-H and C-O. SEM analysis showed that pores were found in the corn cob carbon and a layer of oil was present on its surface after the adsorption process. Therefore, corn cob carbon could be considered as an alternative to remove emulsified oil in wastewater due to its good adsorption capacity and low secondary pollution.