• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.605-613
• /
• 2020

This study is to investigate the possibility of using activated carbon prepared from Iraqi date-pits (ADP) which are produced from palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera L.) as low-cost reactive material in the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) for treating lead (Pb⁺²) from the contaminated groundwater, and then compare the results experimentally with other common reactive materials such as commercial activated carbon (CAC), zeolite pellets (ZP). Factors influencing sorption such as contact time, initial pH of the solution, sorbent dosage, agitation speed, and initial lead concentration has been studied. Two isotherm models were used for the description of sorption data (Langmuir and Freundlich). The maximum lead sorption capacities were measured for ADP, CAC, and ZP and were found to be 24.5, 12.125, and 4.45 mg/g, respectively. The kinetic data were analyzed using various kinetic models particularly pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion. COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5a depend on finite element procedure was applied to formulate transmit of lead (Pb⁺²) in the two-dimensional numerical (2D) model under an equilibrium condition. The numerical solution shows that the contaminant plume is hindered by PRB.