Removal of carbon monoxide from an ambient environment using chicken eggshell

Abstract

Adsorbents from chicken eggshells were synthesized by a simple method and used as a novel and effective adsorbent for the removal of carbon monoxide (CO) from an ambient environment. The synthesized adsorbents were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proximate, ultimate analysis and adsorption isotherms. The characterization results showed that the presence of Ca, CaO, SiO2, CO, O-H, and O-Si-O stretching vibration bonding contributed to the adsorption capacity of the synthesized adsorbents. Chicken eggshells were collected, washed, and dried before being pulverized and sieved to yield 36 µm mesh particles. The eggshells were then separated into parts and treated to various calcination temperatures (700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C) with and without phosphoric acid impregnation. Therefore, seven different adsorbents were synthesized. An environmental chamber with a portable generator as the CO source was used to evaluate the performance of the adsorbent. For different residence times (2 to 10 min), different amounts of the synthesized adsorbents (varying from 5 g to 25 g) were introduced into the chamber. A combustion analyzer was used to measure the initial and final CO concentrations. All the synthesized adsorbents are effective in removing CO, but ordinary chicken eggshell has the highest (59.32%) CO capacity removal, the adsorption kinetics followed a Lagergren pseudo-first-order model, and the adsorption isotherms conformed to Langmuir equation.