Efficiency of activated carbon prepared from mixed oily sludge and lignocellulosic waste for furfural adsorption from aqueous solutions

Disposal of oily sludges generated in the oil industry is an important environmental issue. In this study, a carbonaceous composite sorbent was prepared from oily sludge and elm tree sawdust using chemical activation process by zinc chloride. Some sorptive characteristics of produced activated carbon such as BET, iodine number and furfural adsorption were determined. The results showed that the addition of lignocellulosic wastes to oily sludge improved the BET surface to 691.7 m2/g and removal efficiency of furfural to 98% by activated composite comparing to the activated carbon produced from oily sludge. In general, the sorbent produced from composite of oily sludge and lignocellulosic wastes could be used in adsorption process for wastewater treatment.