Abstract—Tires are highly durable and non-biodegradable and have negative impacts of landfill disposal. Waste tire pyrolysis char was chemically activated using KOH for copper ions removal from aqueous solution. The scanning electron microscope, proximate analysis and x-ray fluoresce are confirmed that chemical activated of waste tire pyrolysis char took place. The adsorption result revealed that waste tire activated carbon (WTAC) was more effective than waste tire pyrolysis char (WTPC) on the removal of copper ions from aqueous solution. The optimum process variables were found to be suitable: pH of 5; adsorbent dosage of 0.25 g/100 mL; initial concentration of 400 mg/L; contact time of 100 min and temperature of 25 o C. Adsorption isotherms studies revealed that the experimental data were best fitted with Freundlich isotherm model. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics was best fitted with pseudo-first order model. Adsorption thermodynamic parameter such as ∆H o , ∆G o and ∆S o were calculated and it was established that the process was exothermic spontaneous and randomness in nature. Keywords: Waste tire activated carbon; waste tire pyrolysis char; Copper ions; Removal; Aqueous solution. I. INTRODUCTION opper is usually found at high concentration in wastewater, because it is considered as the most valuable and commonly used metal in many industrial applications, such as metal finishing, electroplating, plastics and etching [1, 2]. Moreover, copper is very toxic metal even at low concentration. Copper may cause many harmful damages for eye and liver and the imbalance in cellular [3]. Several treatment techniques have been used including chemical precipitation, adsorption, membrane separation, bio-electrochemical system, ion-exchange and electrochemical [3, 4]. Amongst all these techniques, adsorption of Cu 2+ using activated carbon is gaining a lot of recognition due to its high efficiency, easy operation, low cost, and energy efficiency [5]. Commercial activated carbon is the most used adsorbent for the adsorption of heavy metals due to its porosity and has high surface area. The major concern about commercial activated carbon is that it is very expensive [6]. This has led to a growing demand to Manuscript received July 10, 2019; revised August 11, 2019. This work was supported by the Department of Chemical Engineering, Vaal University of Technology, South Africa. J. Kabuba is with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa. Tel. +27 16 950 9887; fax: +27 16 950 6491; e-mail: johnka@ vut.ac.za. produce low cost activated carbon for the removal of Cu 2+ ions from waste water. Efforts have been made to produce activated carbon from agricultural wastes, solid wastes, and by-products form other processes. Waste tires are creating a great environmental problem throughout the world since the rate at which they are being produced continues to increase rapidly every year and it is becoming difficult to dispose them in an environmentally friendly manner. The strict regulations restricting the disposal of waste tires into landfill sites means that there is need for other alternative environmentally safe ways of disposing waste tires. Pyrolysis of the waste tires has been regarded as the most promising method for the utilization of the waste tires since the process is to reduce the weight of the waste tires by up to 90% of its original weight and it results in the production of products such as waste tire pyrolysis oil, pyrolysis char and pyrolysis gas [6]. The waste tire pyrolysis char can further be processed by activation to produce activated carbon with good adsorption properties. The activation methods include chemical and physical activation. Chemical activation involves the use of chemical reagents to produce activated carbon with superior adsorption properties and physical adsorption involves the use of oxidizing agents such as carbon dioxide and superheated steam to produce activated carbon with good adsorption properties [7]. This study aims at producing activated carbon by means of chemical activation using KOH as an activating agent and for subsequently its use the removal of copper ions from aqueous solution. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Waste tire pyrolysis char (WTPC) obtained in powder form from a local company. Potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid and CuSO4.5H2O were analytical grade and were obtained from Sigma Aldrich (Pty). 100g of WTPC was firstly washed with distilled water to remove impurities. The washed sample was then placed in a drying oven for 24 hours at 100 o C. Thereafter the sample was then sieved to a particle size less than 100μm. After the sample was impregnated with 500mL aqueous solution of KOH at an impregnation ratio of 2:1 (weight of KOH: weight of char) and the mixture was stirred at 80 o C for 4 hours to complete the impregnation process. The slurry produced from the impregnation process was dried in a drying oven at 100 o C for 24 hours to remove moisture. The dry sample was activated in a tube furnace at a temperature of 600 o C for 1 hour using nitrogen. After the activation the Removal of Copper Ions from Aqueous Solution Using Activated Carbon Derived from Waste Tire Pyrolysis John Kabuba, Member IAENG C Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2019 WCECS 2019, October 22-24, 2019, San Francisco, USA ISBN: 978-988-14048-7-9 ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online) WCECS 2019