Evaluation of physical properties and adsorption capacity of regenerated granular activated carbons (GACs)

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the variation in physical properties and investigate the adsorption capacity after regeneration of granular activated carbon (GAC). A correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the iodide number and loss rate. The experimental results showed that the loss rate of regenerated carbon should be related to the usage time of GAC. Physical properties including the effective size and uniformity coefficient were similar to those of virgin GAC. This result indicates that the function of GAC as an adsorption medium may be recovered completely. Although the iodine number and specific surface area of the regenerated GAC were smaller than those of virgin GAC, the cumulative pore volume of the former was larger. The removal efficiency of organic matter from the regenerated GAC column was equal to or slightly higher than that from the virgin GAC column. Consequently, regeneration may increase the number of mesopores which are responsible for the removal of organic matter.