Journal of Applied and Emerging Sciences Vol (10), Issue (02) [93] https://doi.org/10.36785/BUITEMS.JAES.393 Abstract-- In this study, fly ash (FA) was derived from extracted sugarcane bagasse solid waste (ESBSW) and chemically modified to apply as an adsorbent. Impact of activated FA particles (200 and 250 μm) and adsorbent bed height (4, 6 and 8 mm) on pollutant removal efficiency was evaluated. ESBSW was combusted in laboratory-scale gasifier operated at 1000 °C for 1 h. The black solid residue was sieved to obtain the desired particle size followed by activation with 10% and 15% sulfuric acid. Wastewater samples collected from the drainage site of BUITEMS were analyzed and treated with the prepared adsorbent. ESBSW-FA 250 activated with 15% H2SO4 with 8 mm bed height showed high efficiency. Where, 94.37%, 95.1% and 63.5% removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS) and turbidity was attained, respectively. The pH of treated water was neutral. ESBSW has shown great potential to be used as a precursor for valuable byproducts. It's recycling for adsorbent preparation will economically and environmentally benefit the sugar industry. Keywords- Sugarcane bagasse waste; Combustion; Fly ash; Adsorbent; Waste management; Wastewater treatment Date Received 10-07-2020 Date Accepted 12-10-2020 Date Published 18-12-2020 I. INTRODUCTION Water pollution caused due to hazardous substances entails a high degree of damage to the ecosystem [1]. High living standards, increased population and rapid industrialization are equally involved in the reduction and polluting the water resources. Direct drainage of domestic and industrial waste effluents on the earth surface affects the quality of surface and groundwater resources [2]. Moreover, the demand for fresh or cleaned water is increasing day by day to perform daily life activities. To overcome this challenge, waste effluent streams must be treated by suitable technique before their discharging and can be recycled for a variety of applications i.e. gardening [3]. Wastewater can be treated by different techniques such as filtration, coagulation, precipitation, adsorption, membrane filtration, ion exchange and floatation. However, the selection of suitable treatment technique is highly important concerning hazard effects of pollutants [1]. Filtration is the simplest process of treating the wastewater by passing through the bed of sand and gravels. However, the performance efficiency for the removal of pollutant is very less [4]. Other techniques such as membrane and ion-exchange are very expansive. Adsorption is low cost and very effective process. Where polluted stream came into contact with the adsorbent. The economy and performance of the adsorption process depend on the cost of adsorbent material, preparation technique and characteristics [5]. However, single Physico-chemical treatment technique is not capable of removing the pollutants up to 80% of the influent COD, TSS and color simultaneously. Combination of filtration and adsorption beds column system gave the highest removal of organics (81%) and turbidity (94.5%) [4]. Gravel and sand of different mesh sizes are generally applied as filtration media. In recent years, char has gained increased interest as an adsorbent due to its low cost as compared to activated carbon [3]. Fly ash produced along char is separated and have profound application as a supporting agent for concrete materials and as an adsorbent [6]. Char and fly ash are produced as a byproduct during the thermal conversion of coal, lignocellulosic or algal biomass. Their properties may differ owing to the material characteristics, pretreatment and thermal process conditions [7]. Generally, fly ash is composed of SiO2, which plays a catalytic role to adsorb the pollutants [8]. Pollutant uptake capacity of fly ash can be enhanced by modifying its surface with acid treatment. Pakistan is an agro-industrial country and 5 th largest producer of sugarcane in the world [9]. Despite its use as a sugar precursor, it is also used for juice extraction countrywide. After processing for sugar or juice extracted sugarcane bagasse is regarded as solid waste. Obviously, at large scale processing, a huge quantity of this solid waste will Taimoor Khan a , Muhammad Amin a* , Syed Kamran Sami a , Muhammad Najam Khan a , Syed Zameer Ul Hassan b , Syed Haseeb Sultan a , Ali Asghar b , Anila Ali c a Department of Chemical Engineering, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) ,87300 Quetta, Pakistan b Department of Textile Engineering, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) ,87300 Quetta, Pakistan c Department of Environmental Sciences, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) ,87300 Quetta, Pakistan * Corresponding author’s email: engr_amin63@yahoo.com Valorization of sugarcane bagasse waste for fly ash production and application as an adsorbent