Adsorption of humic acid by powdered activated carbon in saline water conditions

The adsorption of humic acid (HA) by powdered activated carbon (PAC) in saline waters has been examined in the absence and presence of metal salt coagulants. The study showed that adsorption of HA by PAC can be significantly greater in saline water compared to freshwater and low conductivity water. An optimal adsorption was attained at saline concentrations corresponding to synthetic seawater diluted to 12.5-25% of its original concentration. In undiluted synthetic seawater the adsorption of HA from solution by PAC was comparable with that of local tap water in terms of initial adsorption rate and total removal. The enhanced adsorption is believed to be a combination of reduced electrostatic repulsion between the HA and PAC at high salt concentrations, and chemisorption due to chemical bonding between the functional groups. The effects of adding a metal salt coagulant, either aluminium sulphate or ferric chloride, on overall HA removal were found to depend strongly on the coagulant dose, solution pH and the sequence of addition of the PAC and metal salt coagulant. Addition of the PAC shortly before the coagulant was found to give the greatest removal of HA.     

Enhanced fluoride removal from drinking water by magnesia-amended activated alumina granules

This paper describes the fluoride removal potential of a novel sorbent, magnesia-amended activated alumina (MAAA) from drinking water. MAAA, prepared by calcining magnesium hydroxide impregnated alumina at 450 °C has shown high fluoride sorption potential than activated alumina from drinking water. Batch sorption studies were performed as a function of contact time, pH, initial fluoride concentration, and adsorbent dose. Studies were also performed to understand the effect of various other co-existing ions present in real ground water samples. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) and a gas adsorption porosimetry analyses were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of MAAA. More than 95% removal of fluoride (10 mg l⁻¹) was achieved within 3 h of contact time at neutral pH. Sorption of fluoride onto MAAA was found to be pH dependant and a decrease in sorption was observed at higher pHs. Among the kinetic models tested, pseudo-second-order model fitted the kinetic data well, suggesting the chemisorption mechanism. Among the various isotherm model tested, Sips model predicted the data well. The maximum sorption capacity of fluoride deduced from Sips equation was 10.12 mg g⁻¹. Most of the co-existing ions studied have negligible effect on fluoride sorption by MAAA. However, higher concentrations of bicarbonate and sulfate have reduced the fluoride sorption capacity.     

Adsorption of dyes and humic acid from water using chitosan‐encapsulated activated carbon

The adsorption isotherms and rates of two dyes and humic acid from aqueous solutions onto chitosan‐encapsulated activated carbon (CEAC) beads were measured at 30 °C. Such beads were prepared by mixing different weight percents of cuttlefish‐based chitosan (100%, 80%, 67%, and 55%) and rice‐based activated carbons. It was shown that the isotherms of dyes and humic acid were well fitted by the Freundlich equation. The adsorption capacity and rate could be enhanced when activated carbon was encapsulated with chitosan. Four simplified kinetic models including the pseudo‐first‐order equation, pseudo‐second‐order equation, intraparticle diffusion model, and the Elovich equation were tested to follow the adsorption processes. The adsorption of dyes was best described by the Elovich equation, but that of humic acid was best described by the intraparticle diffusion model. The kinetic parameters of each best‐fit model were calculated and are discussed in this paper. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

活性炭去除水体中微囊藻毒素的研究进展

对国内外活性炭去除水体中微囊藻毒素的研究进展进行了综述。详细阐述了活性炭对微囊藻毒素的吸附去除机理及水体中天然有机物、pH、氯等外界因素对活性炭吸附性能的影响,认为物理扩散、静电引力和降解作用是活性炭吸附去除藻毒素的主要机理。通过改性和生物再生能够有效提高活性炭对微囊藻毒素的去除率并延长其运行周期。     

Anthracene removal from water onto activated carbon derived from vehicular tyre

The present study focuses on adsorptive removal of anthracene by application of activated carbon developed from waste vehicular tyres (VTAC). Different experimental parameters were varied to examine their influence on anthracene adsorption. The results reveal that concentration of anthracene in aqueous phase reduces continuously with enhancement in shaking time. After a period of 75 min, the adsorption of anthracene on VTAC was observed to be in equilibrium. The adsorption of anthracene was >99% in presence of 14–20 mg and an adsorbent dose of 8 mg was used to analyse the effect of other parameters in the present study. As pH of solution is lowered, rise in adsorption capacity of VTAC was observed. The obtained data were applied to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms for studied PAH adsorption. The second order kinetics was suggested to be better fitted with R² values >0.95. Intra-particle diffusion and Boyd-Reichenberg model were applied for investigating the mechanism of adsorption.     

Application of ultrafiltration membranes for removal of humic acid from drinking water

Humic acids are primarily a result of the microbiological degradation of surrounding vegetation and animal decay and enter surface waters through rain water run-off from the surrounding land. This often gives rise to large seasonal variations, high concentrations in the wet season and lower concentrations in the dry season. Alone humic acid is just a colour problem but when present in conventional treatment processes like chlorination, carcinogenic by-products like trihalomethane and haloacetic acid are formed. This, in addition to the demand for clean potable drinking water, has sparked extensive research into alternative processes for the production of drinking water from various natural/industrial sources. One of the major areas of focus in these studies is the use of membranes in microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration. In this report the humic acid removal efficiency of ultrafiltration membranes with 3 kDa, 5 kDa and 10 kDa MWCO is examined. The membranes were made of regenerated cellulose and were in the form of cassette providing a 0.1 m² surface area. At first distilled and deionised water, known as milliQ water, was used as the background feed solution to which humic acid powder was added. It was found that all three membranes removed humic acid with an efficiency of approx. 90% and were capable of reducing initial concentrations of 15mg/L to below the New Zealand regulatory limit of 1.17 mg/L. The permeate flux at a transmembrane pressure of 2.1 bar was approx. 20 l/m²/h (LMH) and 40 LMH, respectively through the membranes with MWCO 3 kDa and 5 kDa. These membranes experienced significant surface fouling resulting in retentate flow rates as low as 11 litres per hour after just four runs compared to the recommended 60–90 l/h. Cleaning with 0.1 M NaOH slightly improved the retentate flow rate, but well below those obtained with fresh membranes. The 10 kDa membrane provided high retentate flow rates which evidently minimised fouling by providing a good sweeping action across the membrane surface while maintaining humic acid removal below the regulatory 1.17 mg/L level. The permeate flux through this membrane was initially high (140–180 LMH) and reduced to approx. 100 LMH after 10–12 min of operation. Increasing the initial humic acid feed concentration from 10 mg/L to 50 mg/L did not significantly decrease humic acid removal efficiency although the retentate flow rate was lower at higher concentrations. Finally the tap water was tested as the background solution and treated for the removal of humic acid. The presence of ions and other impurities in the tap water had little effect on humic acid removal. However, the permeate flux through 10 kDa membrane decreased from 100 LMH for milliQ water to 60 LMH for tap water after 20 min of operation.     

Kinetics of removal of p-toluene sulphonic acid from concentrated solution by granular activated carbon

The removal of p-toluene sulphonic acid (p-TSA) from concentrated solution by granular activated carbon (GAC) was studied in batch experiments. The first order rate constant was found to be 5.5010 × 10^?5 s^?1 for a solution of 1000 mg dm^?3. In order to establish the rate limiting step the pore and film diffusion coefficients were calculated from the half time equations. Film diffusion was found to be rate limiting. The average value of the external mass transport rate constant was 2.91 × 10^?6 cm s^?1. The adsorption isotherm was adequately described by the Langmuir model and belongs to type ‘H’ of Giles' classification.     

负载铁离子活性炭除砷的研究进展

砷污染是一个严重的世界问题,在其诸多的去除方法中,负载铁离子活性炭兼顾了活性炭和混凝沉淀的优势,可高效去除砷离子.作者对负载铁离子活性炭的制备方法、影响砷去除率的主要因素和吸附模型的研究现状进行了详细评述,其中负载铁离子活性炭的孔径结构、表面性质,负载铁离子的形貌、分布、种类和质量等决定着其吸附容量;通过调节搅拌时间、...     

Sulfate removal from acid mine drainage using polypyrrole-grafted granular activated carbon

A novel method of removing sulfate from acid mine drainage (AMD) water was developed by depositing polypyrrole into the pores of wood-based activated carbon (RGC) using in situ chemical oxidative polarization. This polypyrrole-tailored activated carbon hosted positively charged polypyrrole functionality that offered sorption capacity for sulfate. Specifically, in batch tests, the polypyrrole-grafted RGC achieved a sulfate loading of 48 mg/g, this being 8 times higher than for pristine RGC. Rapid Small Scale Column Tests appraised the polypyrrole-tailored RGC for removing 773 mg/L sulfate from AMD water. The more favorably tailored carbon removed sulfate to half-breakthrough at 24 bed volumes (BV). This compared to 1.5 BV for pristine activated carbon. Per mass and charge balance, 9% of the nitrogen in the polypyrrole functionality was active for capturing sulfate. On this tailored carbon, the nitrogen content was 12.9%, as characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. With this polypyrrole tailoring, the carbon’s pore volume distributions diminished to one-third, as characterized by argon adsorption.     

Characteristics of unburned carbons and their application for humic acid removal from water

Two unburned carbons (UCs) were separated from coal fly ash and their physicochemical properties were characterised using N₂ adsorption, XRD, SEM, XPS, FT-IR and potentiometric mass titration. Chemical treatments using HNO₃ and KOH were also conducted on one of the unburned carbons. The adsorption of humic acid from aqueous solution was performed on these untreated and chemically treated UCs. It was found that the UCs showed different porous structure and surface chemical properties, which influenced their adsorption behaviour. UCs exhibited high adsorption capacity for humic acid. After chemical treatment, the textural structure and surface functional groups of the unburned carbon were changed and the adsorption behaviour showed significant difference. Acid treatment did not change the surface area but reduced the functional groups while basic treatment significantly enhanced the surface area in microporous section but still reduced the surface functional groups. Particle size and pH solution will also influence the adsorption capacity. The adsorption will increase with decreasing particle size for humic acid. Higher pH solution will reduce humic acid adsorption on unburned carbon. Ionic strength will also affect humic acid adsorption showing positive effect on adsorption capacity.     

Functionalized activated carbon for the adsorptive removal of perchlorate from water solutions

Two types of activated carbon, namely, Filtrasorb 400 and Nuchar SA, were functionalized by quaternary ammonium salts (quats), as to enhance perchlorate adsorption. Results showed that the adsorption of quats on Nuchar SA increased with increase in chain length (hydrophobicity) of quats. Filtrasorb 400, however, had limited uptake of long-chain quats such as dodecyltrimethylammonium and hexadecyltrimethylammoium (HDTMA). Results indicated that perchlorate removal by the functionalized activated carbon was directly related to the chain length of the modifying quats. Perchlorate removal by functionalized activated carbon increased with increase in chain length of the modifying quats and became less pH-dependent. Modified Nuchar SA had higher overall perchlorate removal capacity than the modified Filtrasorb F400, but was more strongly affected by pH than Filtrasorb 400. Activated carbon treated with HDTMA exhibited the best perchlorate removal capacity among all quats studied. Results indicated that tailoring the activated carbon surface with HDTMA rendered the activated carbon surface positively charged, which resulted in substantial increase in perchlorate removal compared to unfunctionalized activated carbons.     

Continuous flow removal of acid fuchsine by dielectric barrier discharge plasma water bed enhanced by activated carbon adsorption

Continuous processes which allow for large amount of wastewater to be treated to meet drainage standards while reducing treatment time and energy consumption are urgently needed. In this study, a dielectric barrier discharge plasma water bed system was designed and then coupled with granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption to rapidly remove acid fuchsine (AF) with high efficiency. Effects of feeding gases, treatment time and initial concentration of AF on removal efficiency were investigated. Results showed that compared to the N2 and air plasmas treatments, O2 plasma processing was most effective for AF degradation due to the strong oxidation ability of generated activated species, especially the OH radicals. The addition of GAC significantly enhanced the removal efficiency of AF in aqueous solution and shorten the required time by 50%. The effect was attributed to the ability of porous carbon to trap and concentrate the dye, increasing the time dye molecules were exposed to the plasma discharge zone, and to enhance the production of OH radicals on/in GAC to boost the degradation of dyes by plasma as well as in situ regenerate the exhausted GAC. The study offers a new opportunity for continuous effective remediation of wastewater contaminated with organic dyes using plasma technologies.     

Application of TiO2-mounted activated carbon to the removal of phenol from water

TiO₂-mounted activated carbon was prepared through hydrolytic precipitation of TiO₂ from teraisopropyl orthotitanate and following heat treatment at 650–900 °C for 1 h under a flow of nitrogen. The removal of phenol from its aqueous solution under UV irradiation was measured on TiO₂-mounted activated carbons thus prepared. Although BET surface area of TiO₂-mounted activated carbons decreased drastically in comparison with the original activated carbon, the efficiency of phenol removal under UV irradiation was high. The sample heated at 900 °C, which consisted mainly of rutile phase, showed the highest total removal of phenol. Efficiency of phenol degradation is reduced because of phenol adsorption on the catalyst.     

Preparation of microporous activated carbon and its modification for arsenic removal from water

Arsenic removal from water was investigated using activated carbon. The chemical activated carbon (CAC) prepared using H₃PO₄ from jute stick largely featured micropore structure with surface functional groups, while meso- and macropore structures were mainly developed in physical activated carbon (PAC). The CAC and PAC reduced arsenic concentration to 45 and 55 μg L⁻¹, respectively, from 100 μg L⁻¹ while iron-loaded CAC reduced to 3 μg L⁻¹, which is lower than the upper permissible limit (10 μg L⁻¹). The micropore structure of CAC along with complexation affinity of iron species towards arsenic species attributed to enhanced separation of arsenic.     

Enhanced production of hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose with solid acid catalysts by simple water removal methods

This paper demonstrates two simple ways to increase 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) yield (selectivity) in fructose dehydration with various solid acid catalysts. One is a water removal from the reaction mixture by a mild evacuation at 0.97 × 10⁵ Pa; it increases HMF yield for various catalysts (heteropoly acid, zeolite, and acidic resin). The removal of water suppresses two undesired reactions: the hydrolysis of HMF to levulinic acid and the reaction of partially dehydrated intermediates to condensation products. The other method is a decrease in the particle (bead) size of the resin (Amberlyst-15). The crushed and sieved Amberlyst-15 powder in a size of 0.15–0.053 mm shows 100% HMF yield at high fructose concentration (50 wt.% in DMSO), which is to our knowledge the highest yield to date. Near-infrared spectroscopic characterization of adsorbed water suggests that the enhanced yield can be caused by an improved removal of adsorbed water in a small-size resin particle.     

Simultaneous removal of atrazine and nitrate using a biological granulated activated carbon (BGAC) reactor

The objective of this research was to characterize the performance of granulated activated carbon (GAC) as a carrier for Pseudomonas ADP in a non‐sterile continuous fluidized bed reactor for atrazine degradation under anoxic conditions. The GAC was compared with two non‐adsorbing carriers: non‐adsorbing carbon particles (‘Baker product’) having the same surface area available for biofilm growth as the GAC, and sintered glass beads. The initial atrazine degradation efficiency was higher than 90% in the reactors with the non‐adsorbing carriers, but deteriorated to 20% with time due to contamination by foreign denitrifying bacteria. In contrast, no deterioration was observed in the biological granulated activated carbon (BGAC) reactor. A maximal atrazine volumetric and specific degradation rate of 0.820 ± 0.052 g atrazine dm^?3 day^?1 and 1.7 ± 0.4 g atrazine g^?1 protein day^?1 respectively were observed in the BGAC reactor. Concurrent atrazine biodegradation and desorption from the carrier was shown and an effluent concentration of 0.002 mg dm^?3 (below the EPA standard) was achieved in the BGAC reactor. The advantages of the BGAC reactor over the non‐adsorbing carrier reactors can probably be explained by the adsorption–desorption mechanism providing favorable microenvironmental conditions for atrazine–degrading bacteria. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Gallic acid water ozonation using activated carbon

The ozonation of gallic acid in water in the presence of activated carbon has been studied at pH 5. Hydrogen peroxide, ketomalonic and oxalic acids were identified as by-products. The process involves two main periods of reaction. The first period, up to complete disappearance of gallic acid, during which ozonation rates are slightly improved by the presence of activated carbon. The second one, during which activated carbon plays an important role as promoter, and total mineralization of the organic content of the water is achieved. The organic matter removal is due to the sum of contributions of ozone direct reactions and adsorption during the first period and to a free radical mechanism likely involving surface reactions of ozone and hydrogen peroxide on the carbon surface during the second period. There is a third transition period where by-products concentration reach maximum values and ozonation is likely due to both direct and free radical mechanisms involving ozone and adsorption. Discussion on the mechanism and kinetics of the process is also presented both for single ozonation and activated carbon ozonation.     

改性活性炭吸附除砷的研究

以小麦秸秆、木屑、煤渣等所制备的活性炭及其活性炭负载铁作为吸附剂,用于水中As（Ⅲ）的去除。考察了活性炭种类、吸附时间、吸附温度、溶液pH值和吸附剂投加量等对As（Ⅲ）去除的影响。结果表明,木屑制备的活性炭所负载铁作为吸附剂,对水中As（Ⅲ）的去除效果最好;As（Ⅲ）的去除率随吸附时间、吸附温度、溶液pH值和吸附剂投加量的增加而增加。     

Adsorptive removal of tetracycline from water using Fe (III)-functionalized carbonized humic acid

Humic acid (HA) was carbonized at 300, 400 and 500 ℃ and then functionalized with 1 wt%-12 wt% Fe(III) respectively [CHA300/400/500-Fe(III)]. Adsorption of such Fe(III)-functionalized carbonized HA as adsorbents to aqueous tetracycline (TC: 25 mg·L^-1) was studied. The adsorption equilibrium time for CHA400-Fe(III) to TC was 6 h faster and the adsorption removal efficiency (R_e) was two times higher than that of HA/CHA. The adsorption R e of CHA400-Fe(III) loaded 10% iron [CHA400-(10%)Fe(III)] to TC could reach 99.8% at 8 h and still kept 80.6% after 8 cycles. The adsorption kinetics were well fitted to the pseudo-second-order equation and the adsorption isotherms could be well delineated via Langmuir equations(R² > 0.99), indicating that the homogeneous chemical adsorption of TC occurred on the adsorbents. The main adsorption mechanisms of TC were complexation Fe(III) and hydrophobic distribution. Electropositive and electronegative repulsion between TC and CHA400-(10%)Fe(III) at lowly pH(2) and highly pH(8-10) respectively, leaded to the relatively low adsorption capacity and more notable influence of ion concentration. When the pH was between 4 and 8, TC mainly existed in neutral molecules (TCH₂), so the influence of ion concentration was not obvious. The dynamic adsorption results showed that the CHA400-(10%)Fe(III) could continuously treat about 2.4 L TC(27 mg·L^-1) wastewater with the effluent concentration as low as 0.068 mg·L^-1. Our study suggested a broad application prospect of a new, effective, lowcost and environment-friendly adsorbent CHA400-(10%)Fe(III) for treatment of low-concentration TC polluted wastewater.