Activated carbon is a form of carbon that is processed to purify air and water.
Activated carbon uses the unique characteristic of carbon
adsorption. By having large surface area, it is an excellent
purification matter. Large surface area can be formed due
to its small, low small, low volume pores, and complex
particle shape. carbon atoms arranged in a disordered
graphite lattice, giving it a large internal surface area. The
surface area of activated carbon ranges from 500 to 2000
m^2/gm. In order to transfer carbon to this unique form,
chemical activation was used is. Chemical activation
includes two processes, carbonization and activation.
Carbonization is the heat treatment or pyrolytic
Figure 1 The atomic structure of activated
decomposition of a heterogeneous precursor material like carbon
coal or wood in the absence of oxygen to avoid combustion. The activated carbon
was made by adding sulfuric acid to coal to form heat by exothermic reaction of
250 degrees as shown in the following chemical equation.
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C coal+ H 2 S O4 →C + S O2 +C O2 + H 2 O
In chemical activation, carbonization and activation proceed simultaneously. Thus,
it can remove odor and color form contaminated water.
In order to have the prototype fully automated, a feedback system will be built
using an Arduino kit for control. water should move from the first stage (slow sand
filter) to the second stage (activated carbon) by a water level sensor to a water
pump. Water pumps are connected to a logical gate to pass electric current if the
water level sensor detects water at the level of the filtered water volume. The same
will happen between activated carbon and the third stage (Electro-coagulation).
After electro-coagulation, water will repeat the cycle five times. Then, water will
have to potential paths, the first is to repeat the cycle if sensors didn’t confirm the
sample. The second is to let water pass to the final storage container if water is
clean. The used sensors are TDS sensors, TCS230 color sensors, and BMP180
pressure sensors. Pressure and color sensors are used to indicate the existence of
organic matter and suspended matter. The TDS sensor uses this function: -
TDS value = ( 133.42V −255.86 V + 857.39 V ) × 0.536
3 2
where the 0.536 is scaling factor that was found by calibration on mineral water.
While color sensor was calibrated on white color and pressure sensor on
atmospheric pressure to get the standard values for the calculations.
Name Quantity Description Figure
Arduino Uno 1 An electronic kit to control the
system
Water Pumps 3 Pumps used to transfer and
push water to different stages
Sand 3 kg Modules to control water
pumps with the Arduino
Coal 0.5 kg Coal used for the Activated
carbon
Aluminum Electrodes 2 Aluminum electrodes for the
electrolysis
18:37:15.529 -> REBOOT
18:37:15.561 -> BMP180 init fail
18:37:15.561 ->
18:37:15.561 ->
18:54:53.472 -> REBOOT
18:54:53.506 -> BMP180 init fail
18:54:53.506 ->
18:54:53.506 ->
18:57:41.202 -> REBOOT
18:57:41.202 -> BMP180 init fail
18:57:41.246 ->
18:57:41.246 ->
TDSfinal levels
The total suspended solids in a water sample indicate its level of salinity. The
concentration of the total suspended solids in the location of
the problem is 1200 ppm. The project would be considered successful if it could
reduce the concentration of the total suspended solids by no less than 50% in a
water sample, so the concentration of the total suspended solids would be 600 ppm.
Color and odor change
One of the most prominent pollutants in the water sample was
organic matter. Therefore, the prototype needs to be able to neutralize organic
polluters. Odor and color are accurate indicators of the levels of organic
pollutants in water. The pressure caused by the water must reach 772 torrs to
indicate accurately how the pollutants affect the odor of the water sample.
Moreover, light frequencies must be as same through water as through purified
water samples.
Minimum
volume-energy efficiency
The prototype needs to show reliability to work with resources proportional to the
amount of water it purifies. The project’s design is
reliant on water pumps, sensors and relay modules for automating the purification
process. The system would be said to be efficient if it could
produce the desired results with power consumption-per-liter that is less than that
of prior solutions. The prototype must consume only 50-watt hours
for each liter per cycle.
Purification rate
The prototype is considered successful if it could purify at least 0.2 liters per hour.
