Optimization of Multistage Phenol Adsorption by Organobentonites: Theoretical Developments and Experimental Verification

Abstract

Material balance equations were developed for representing phenol adsorption by organobentonites in a countercurrent multistage adsorption process. The developed equations were employed to analyze the adsorption performance of the multistage process. Results of the theoretical analyses using empirical Freundlich adsorption isotherm had shown that the multistage process is more efficient than the single-stage process in terms of phenol removal per unit amount of organobentonite. It was also shown that equal division of the total amount of organobentonite among all adsorption stages yields the best overall phenol removal efficiency for the multistage process in comparison with other organobentonite allocations. The Freundlich adsorption isotherm was confirmed by experimental tests to describe well the phenol adsorption by organobentonites. Results of theoretical performance analyses of the multistage adsorption process were experimentally verified using two- and three-stage test examples.