Activated carbon and biochar prepared from date palm fiber as adsorbents of phosphorus from wastewater

Activated carbon derived from agriculture waste has recently gained widespread use due to its high efficiency, especially in wastewater treatment applications. The article aims to enhance the wastewater treatment process by evaluating advanced treatment within secondary treatment stages, using activated biochar technology and biochar. It also investigates the removal efficiency when sand is added to both activated biochar and biochar, and finally compares the results with an existing wastewater treatment plant. First, biochar and activated biochar were prepared from a bio-based precursor (date palm fiber). Then, four types of adsorbent media were prepared: the first consists of activated biochar, the second of activated biochar with added sand (75 % biochar: 25 % sand by volume), the third of biochar with sand added (75 % biochar: 25 % sand by volume), and the fourth of biochar alone. All media were tested as adsorbents for total phosphorus from actual raw wastewater under identical hydraulic conditions. All media demonstrated good potential for total phosphorus removal, with activated biochar showing the highest removal efficiency (81-91 %), followed by activated biochar with sand (68- 86 %), biochar with sand (71-85 %), and finally biochar alone (59-83 %). Furthermore, all types of media were resilient to simulated hydraulic and phosphorus overloading events.