Activated carbon removal of organic contaminants in ultra-pure water systems with recycle

Abstract

A combination of experimental and process modeling methods is utilized to determine the fundamental equilibrium and kinetic parameters for multi-component adsorption of organic impurities on activated carbon. The operating conditions are generally relevant to the activated carbon application in industrial ultra-pure water plants with recycle; in particular, the study is focused on silicon wafer processing plants. Some compounds, such as IPA, are not adsorbed on granular activated carbon effectively and show poor removal. Removal improves as molecular size increases or as the molecule's polarity decreases. Equilibrium conditions cannot be assumed for these cases and the kinetic adsorption/desorption parameters should be considered in the process analysis and design. Multi-component interactions are found to be a source of impurity leaching during wastewater treatment and recycle.