Abstract:
Activated carbon has been widely used as an odor absorbent in household and water purifying industry. Filtration equipment for drinking water generally consists of three parts, which are microporous filter (made of porous alumina ceramic or diatomite) odor absorbent (made of activated carbon) and water hardness treatment (made of ion exchange resin). Ceramic filter aid is usually prepared by slip casting and must have the properties of high flux and high porosity. The objective of this study is to fabricate the hybrid tubular filter for water filtration and odor absorption by using slip casted activated rice husk charcoal. Various of parameters were studied such as the ratio of rice husk charcoal to water and binder, particle size, milling time and firing temperature. The casted pieces of rice husk charcoal were carbonized in a closed stainless steel at 700, 800 and 900 °C by covering the specimens with rice husk charcoal grain to protect oxidation. The specimens were performance tested for water flux and odor absorption ability. The good slip was prepared from the composition of 43 wt% rice husk charcoal, 57 wt% water, and 1.25 wt% carboxy-methylcellulose. The composition was then mixed in a high speed porcelain pot for 60 min and casted in a plaster mold for 2 h. The casted body was dried and fired at 900 °C for 1 h. The properties of fired sample shows total shrinkage of 5.88%, water absorption of 58.74%, three-point bending strength of 1.06 MPa, average pore size of 0.83 µm and specific surface area of 72.62 m²/g which represent the odor absorption ability.