The most ideal conditions for preparing activated carbon from Prosopis africana seed hulls (PASH-AC) were investigated using sodium acetate (CH3COONa) as an activating agent. The prime conditions applied for the activated carbon preparation from PASH were activation temperature of 795 degrees C, activation time of 62 min and IR of 2.46. The optimal PASH-AC was mesoporous with reasonably high surface area of 1085.92 m(2)/g which gave good adsorption capacities of 347.47 and 380.75 mg/g for PCP and 2,4-DCP, respectively. The adsorption data were modelled using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption isotherms; the equilibrium adsorption of both PCP and 2,4-DCP on PASH-AC obeyed Langmuir model, pseudo-second-order kinetics was the order that best described the two adsorption processes. (C) 2016 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.