Fixed bed column filtration using pineapple waste activated carbon for dye removal

Dyes are used widely in various industries for colouring purpose. Dye wastes are one of the most concerning pollution in Malaysia. They are easily can be identified by human eyes and not easily degradable which bring detrimental effects to the environment and human. However, the disposal of dye can be treated by several alternatives in this study, activated carbon from pineapple waste such as its crown, core and peel were prepared by chemical acid activation using phosphoric acid (H3PO4) to remove pure Methylene Blue (MB) and Malachite Green (MG). The study was carried out to study the effects of particle size (125 μm and 335 μm) and adsorbent dosage (5 g and 15 g) by using fixed bed column experiment. The results obtained from this study showed that the highest removal for MB were 15 g dosage of pineapple peel activated carbon for both size (125 μm - 99.96%, 335 μm - 99.97%) while for MG were also 15g dosage for both size(125 μm- 99.96%,335μm- 99.97%). This study shows that pineapple waste can be converted into something beneficial like activated carbon and can reduce the problem of waste abundance.