Copper Adsorption Capacities of Sludge Biochar

Stormwater runoff contributes significantly to water pollution; it transfers organic and nonorganic pollutants from impervious surfaces like highways. Heavy metals contamination is significantly high in urban-runoff due to vehicles exhaust, asphalt, and fuel combustion, causing the contamination of water sources. There is a need to design an efficient filtration system that not only manages stormwater runoff, but also treats and removes contaminants. Wastewater sludge driven biochar will be tested for stormwater best management practices (BMPs) in batch adsorption experiment. Sludge samples collected from Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant (Baltimore City, MD) was collected to produce Biochar. GBT-Gravity Belt Thickeners;
GST-Gravity Sludge Thickeners and DIG-Digested Sludge; are three types of sluge were used to produce Biochar using three different pyrolysis temperatures (300 °C, 500°C, 700°C). Water content (%), Ash content (%), Volatile matter (%), Biochar yield (%), and pH were investigated for each produced Biochar. This study will investigate the adsorption potential of the wastewater Sludge Biochar that was prepared with 300 °C pyrolysis temperatures for the removal of copper (Cu2+). Process parameters for batch adsorption including contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, and initial metal concentrations will be optimized and will be analyzed with atomic absorption spectroscopy. Sequential extraction process (BCR) will be applied to determine the speciation of heavy metals in the Sewage Sludge Biochar(SSB). Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) will be used to determine the mobility of inorganic analytes present in the investigated Biochar.