KUWAIT: With funding from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), Dr. Abdulrahman Daham Al-Sulaili, Acting Assistant Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs and Cultural Relations and a faculty member in the Department of Civil Engineering at the College of Engineering and Petroleum at Kuwait University, was able to analyze data on date kernels through research entitled "From Waste to Resources: The Promising Potential of Date Kernels in Activated Carbon Production".
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He explained that activated carbon is a highly porous material that is manufactured using physical and chemical methods and is used in water treatment and air purification. Dr. Al-Sulaili studied different types of date kernels and used physical and chemical methods to convert the kernels to activated carbon, where many different activation processes were carried out to reach optimal physical and chemical qualities.
He noted that activated carbon prepared from the kernels of "salvation" dates had the best results due to its high porosity compared to the kernels of other date types, where the ability to remove pollutants reached 71% compared to the ability of commercially activated carbon. "This result means that it is possible to convert agricultural waste such as date kernels into useful materials that can help manage waste in a sustainable and affordable way," he explained.
The results of the research were summarized in the production of activated carbon from date kernels, which has a high ability to absorb pollutants such as those found in sewage and industrial water. It has significant environmental advantages over traditional sources, and economically surpasses the commercial alternative as its cost is about 33%.