Adsorption of dissolved organics from industrial effluents on to activated carbon

Abstract

AbstractIndustrial effluents usually include multicomponent organic solutes. The optimum pH for adsorption of a specific industrial effluent on activated carbon should be determined experimentally because, in general, more than one mechanism is involved. A series of experiments was conducted to establish the influence of the initial hydrogen ion concentration on carbon adsorption of organic solutes. For these studies, powdered activated carbon was used, and the water systems studied included both single component pure organic compounds as well as multicomponent organic wastes. Results indicate that the pH effect upon the effectiveness of carbon adsorption mainly depends upon the nature of the adsorbed substance. In general, the degree of ionisation is the controlling factor for adsorption of ionic organic solutes on activated carbon. Adsorption reaches a maximum at the point of least ionisation of the adsorbate. As the organic compounds become more complex (i.e. longer hydrocarbon chains, higher molecular weights, increased branching), the electrical adsorption forces between activated carbon and ionic organic solutes will govern. Anionic surfactants meet with decreased electronegative repulsive forces at low pH levels, which increase the effectiveness of carbon adsorption. However, the adsorption of a cationic surfactant is increased by an increase in the electronegative carbon surface at high pH levels. When ionic organic solutes become much more complex, like a polymer, the effects of both ionisation and electrical adsorption forces become less important. Instead, the adsorption rate will be controlled by the extent of hydrolysis caused by the pH adjustment. For non‐ionic organic solutes, chemical reaction(s) between the adsorbate and the added chemical (acid or base) for pH adjustment is an important controlling factor. Again, hydrolysis is responsible for the breakdown of larger size molecules to smaller sizes. Then an increase in adsorption rate with decreasing molecular weight of adsorbate is expected.