A study on the potential of carbon residue from rice husk used as boiler fuel for carbon dioxide capture and wastewater treatment

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila 1008, Philippines
² Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila 1008, Philippines

Corresponding author: jmceledonio@ust.edu.ph

Abstract

Adsorption process both in post carbon dioxide capture and wastewater treatment has been receiving widespread attention over the past decades as a mitigating technology for climate change and water pollution, respectively. With this increasing interest in adsorption processes to address environmental concerns, development of an adsorbent with not just high adsorptive capacity but which is also low cost is of great interest among researchers. In this study, an agricultural waste which was already utilized as a boiler fuel in a paper industry was investigated for its potential as an adsorbent for both carbon dioxide capture and wastewater treatment. Specifically, the CO₂ and methylene blue adsorption capacity of carbon residue from rice husk used as boiler fuel was determined and was compared with a biochar synthesized from rice husk. Furthermore, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used for the characterization of the adsorbents. Results showed that the carbon residue can be a potential adsorbent for both applications with about 0.5 wt% CO₂ adsorption and 100% removal of the methylene blue.