Lucas Tang (1O1)Brandon Hoong (1O1)

Marcus Neo (1O1)Ho Kai Lun(1O1)

Projects Day- Finals 2010Category 1

Experimental Research

Finals Round Version (26)

Introduction

Purify different types of water using activated carbonTest if activated carbon is effective in reducing the

amount of bacteria, heavy metals and turbidity in water

Activated Carbon

Mechanisms of FiltrationAdsorption

The attractive forces between the carbon surface (non-polar) and the pollutants (non-polar) are stronger than the forces keeping the pollutants dissolved in water (polar).

Adsorption cannot occur unless the pollutants are close to the activated carbon's surface.

Purpose

To find out how activated carbon will be able to reduce the amount of impurities in both stagnant and flowing water.

Hypothesis

Activated carbon will reduce the amount of impurities in both flowing and stagnant water.

Variables

Independent Constant Dependent

Types of impurities:

• Lead (II) Nitrate

• Copper (II) Solution

• Calcium Carbonate

• Bacteria (E. Coli)

Temperature of Water

Amount of Bacteria left

Mass of Activated Carbon

Turbidity

Duration of Experiment

Heavy metals

Volume of Water

Type of Activated Carbon

Materials

Activated Carbon

Lead(II) Nitrate

Copper(II) Solution

Calcium Carbonate

Bacteria (E. Coli)

Materials: For set-upsStagnant Water Flowing Water

1 spatula 1 spatula

24g Activated Carbon 24g Activated Carbon

1 electronic mass balance 1 electronic mass balance

1 litre lead nitrate (Pb2+) (50 ppm) 1 litre lead nitrate (Pb2+) (50 ppm)

1 litre Copper(II) solution (50 ppm)

1 litre Copper(II) solution (50 ppm)

4g Calcium Carbonate (CaCo3) 4g Calcium Carbonate (CaCo3)

5 200ml beakers 1 pump

1 globe valve

1 transparent plastic tube

5 200ml beakers

Materials: For set-upsStagnant Water Flowing Water

12 filter papers 16 filter papers

3 filter funnels 3 filter funnels

4 sieves 1 sieves

Materials-For AnalysisStagnant and Flowing Water

1 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer

1 Turbidimeter

1 Agar Plate

1 Colorimeter

Dropper

Apparatus for AnalysisAtomic Absorption

Spectrometer Turbidimeter

Colorimeter and Copper Reagent

Agar Plates

Types Of Water

200 ml H2O+Cu2+

200ml H2O+E .coli

200ml H2O+CaCO3

200ml H2O+Pb2+

Methodology (stagnant water)

Methodology (flowing water)

Removal Of Activated Carbon

Sieve

For Cu2+, Pb2+ and Bacteria experiment For CaCO3 experiment

Filter Funnel

Activated Carbon

Analysis – Lead

Analysis – Copper (II) solution

Analysis - Turbidity

Analysis – Bacteria

ResultsPollutan

tLead(ppm)

Copper (ppm)

Turbidity(NTU)

Bacteria Count(Colonies)

Stagnant

Water

FlowingWater

Stagnant

Water

FlowingWater

Stagnant

Water

FlowingWater

Stagnant

Water

FlowingWater

Test 1 30.11 2.23 4.96 4.33 6192 6868 112 94

Test 2 30.15 2.43 5.44 4.33 4768 5388 105 98

Test 3 30.71 2.17 4.67 3.53 6932 5764 119 99

Mean 30.32 2.28 5.02 4.06 5964 6007 114 97

Original 37.02 49.90 7768 176

Reduction -18% -94% -90% -92% -23% -23% -36% -45%

Results

Results

Results

Results

ConclusionActivated carbon is effective in removing

pollutants in water.

Heavy metals (lead and copper) in water were reduced by >90% esp. in flowing water condition.

Turbidity from suspended solids (CaCO₃) and bacteria in water were reduced by 23% - 45%.

ApplicationsActivated carbon can be used to remove

pollutants in water esp. in remote areas where treated water supply is not available.

The purified water can then be boiled to kill the remaining bacteria before it is used for drinking or cooking.

Activated carbon can be packaged in filter cartridges.

ReferencesDoultonUSA 1996-2010 ‘Activated Carbon For Drinking

Water Filtration’ March 18 2010 http://doultonusa.com/HTML%20pages/activated_carbon_water_filtration.htm

Robin Walker 2009 ‘Question Mark’ http://www.askrobinwalker.com/files/2127328/uploaded/question_mark_3d.png March 18 2010

Wikimedia 2009 ‘Activated Carbon’ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Activated_Carbon.jpg March 18 2010

Michael Crowley ‘Hypothesis’ www.getreligion.org/%3Fp%3D1873 March 26, 2010

Wikipedia ‘Activated Carbon’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon March 30, 2010

Article Alley ‘Activated Carbon Adsorption and How it Works’ http://www.articlealley.com/article_1325858_15.html January 05, 2010

Envco-Environmental Equipment ‘MiniRAE 3000 Photoionization Detector’ http://www.envcoglobal.com/catalog/product/handheld-voc-detectors/minirae-3000-photoionization-detector.html April 2, 2010

MediaWave Communications Corp. ‘Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and Carbon Block Filters’ http://www.home-water-purifiers-and-filters.com/carbon-water-filter.php April 2, 2010

Flikr ‘Copper(II) solution’ http://www.flickr.com/pho tos/37388341@ N 00/1508185178/, October 7 2007

Chemistry comes alive Reactions in aqeous solutions ‘Lead(II) nitrate’ http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/jcesoft/cca/CCA4/STILLS64/PBNO/PBNONACL/1.JPG, 2000

References

Finals Round Version (26)

We hope you enjoyed our presentation!

Finals Round Version (26)