Elimination of phenol by adsorption on activated carbon prepared from the peach cores: modelling and optimisation

The aim of this paper is to model and optimize the conditions of obtaining the activated carbon prepared from the date cores, and the elimination of phenol by adsorption.Several activation chemical agents were tested for the preparation of the activated carbon. Best results is obtained with the phosphoric acid (54% of yield elimination). The operational parameters of activated carbon preparation have been study by using the method of the experimental designs; a first degree model has been established.The kinetic study showed that the maximum of adsorption is reached after 60 min of contact. The effect of pH on the yield adsorption has been carried in a range of 2–10, the maximum of adsorption is obtained towards a value of 5.5. Many operational parameters can influence the phenol elimination, like the temperature, the speed stirring, and the activated carbon initial concentration. The temperature is practically without any influence in phenol elimination; consequently, tests of adsorption will be carried out at the ambient temperature. The method of simplex has been applied to determining optimum values yield of elimination, the two parameters to be optimized are the speed stirring and the initial concentration of the adsorbent. The best phenol elimination obtained is 86%.