TMA and H_2S gas removals using metal loaded on rice husk activated carbon for indoor air purification

摘要

Highlights•Agricultural rice husk waste was utilized for TMA and H2S adsorption carbon filter.•Highest surface area of 2652 m2/g was obtained with KOH activated RH carbon.•Pseudo-second order, intraparticle diffusion, and Yoon-Nelson kinetic models fit.•Filter adsorption capacity for TMA and H2S were 345 mg/g and 410 mg/g, respectively.•Regeneration of H2S adsorbed filter was successfully performed for the filter reuse.AbstractAn excessive exposure to indoor toxic pollutant gases such as trimethylamine (TMA) and H2S is fatal to humans especially in the confined workspace. A porous carbon pollutant filter was developed using rice husk as a biomass waste. The different carbonization temperature highly affected on the surface area of ARH (activated rice husk carbon) and their performance of pollutant gas adsorption. With copper impregnation on the activated carbon (Cu/ARH), much better toxic gas adsorption was achieved in an enclosed chamber. The best performance was obtained with a Cu/ARH filter carbonized at 450 °C as it eliminated the 400 ppm of TMA in 30 min and H2S in 15 min. Isotherm and kinetic models were applied to understand the adsorption performance. The pseudo-second order kinetic model represented the best fit, followed by the intraparticle diffusion and Yoon-Nelson kinetic models. The H2S adsorbed Cu/ARH filter was successfully regenerated whereas a TMA adsorbed Cu/ARH filter was not successfully regenerated. The current study is expected to expand the utilization of biomass waste for the indoor air purification.