Treatment of acid mine drainage via adsorption with food waste activated carbons

John, Kwame Bediako and Sebe, Emese and Brighton, Emmanuel Maburutse and Eveliina, Repo (2025) Treatment of acid mine drainage via adsorption with food waste activated carbons. GEOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING: A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISKOLC, 13 (1). pp. 97-108. ISSN 2063-6997

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Abstract

This study addresses the challenges of acid mine drainages (AMDs) treatment by exploring food waste-derived activated carbons (ACs). The study involves a synthesis of ACs from fruit peels and evaluation for removing heavy metals in AMDs. The AMD solutions were simulated and experiments were conducted via batch adsorption. All the ACs exhibited high adsorption affinities for Pb(II) in the order of KOH-AC > NaOH-AC > H3PO4-AC > H2SO4-AC > ZnCl2-AC, however, the overall best adsorption capacities were recorded by KOH-AC, NaOH-AC and ZnCl2-AC, with estimated equilibrium uptakes of 526.31 50.52, 26.14 0.23, 426.62 20.68, 164.24 11.54, 129.95 6.31 and 141.75 26.01 mg/g, for Hg(II), As(IV), Pb(II), Cd(II), Cu(II) and Co(II), respectively. The adsorption kinetics was faster for the smaller size metals than the larger ones. The study highlights the potential of these ACs as sustainable and effective adsorbents for mitigating the impact of mining activities on water quality. The findings may contribute valuably to the field of environmental remediation and sustainable mining.

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