Adsorption studies of paper mill effluent on teakwood sawdust activated carbon

Wastewater from the paper mill is of great environmental concern. Paper mill generates large volume of concentrated wastewater termed as black liquor. It contains high concentrations of organic and inorganic matter. In present work, activated carbon was prepared from teakwood saw dust using H₂SO₄ as activating agent. This study was focused on removal of COD, turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and colour from paper mill wastewater using teakwood sawdust activated carbon. The study was conducted in a batch mode to investigate the effect of contact time, adsorbent dosage and pH. The maximum percent reduction of COD, colour, turbidity and TDS with teakwood saw dust activated carbon were observed to be 94.67%, 83.19%, 85.03% and 73% respectively. The equilibrium data of the investigation satisfied the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models.