Removal Of Trace Contaminants Research Articles

Insights into the photodegradation of decamethylammonium bromide (DDAB) under UV/H2O2 system: Photodegradation kinetic modeling, degradation mechanism and toxicity evaluation

Decamethonium bromide (DDAB), as a class of quaternary ammonium-based disinfectants (QACs), was widely used during the COVID-19 outbreak. The abuse of DDAB is harmful to the health of aquatic organisms. The UV/H2O2 process is popularly utilized for the removal of trace contaminants from aqueous environments. Thus, in this paper, DDAB was selected as the model of QACs, and the degradation kinetics were simulated by Kintecus software. It was indicated that the effect of the degradation efficiency of DDAB was dominated by [·OH]ss. The degradation efficiency of DDAB was greater than 95 % when [·OH]ss was higher than 1.04×10−12 M. The high dosages of H2O2 (>100 μM) and the less concentration of pollutants (<10 μM) were more beneficial to the degradation of DDAB. The high dosages of NOM and CO32- in the system scavenged ·OH and thereby inhibited the degradation of DDAB. The interference of Cl- on the degradation efficiency was negligible. Additionally, the optimal pH value for removing DDAB was between 4 and 7. Besides, the degradation pathway of DDAB was inferred by Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Ultra-high Performance Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The results showed that the degradation of DDAB began with C-N bond breaking, then generated aldehydes, underwent demethylation reaction, and finally converted to low molecule weight molecules. The results of Ecological Structure Activity Relationships (ECOSAR) toxicity assessment demonstrated that the toxicity of all the degradation products was significantly low. Overall, this study provides theoretical basis for the removal of QACs in the aqueous environment.

Anion-Exchange Electrospun Mixed-Matrix Polymer Fibers of Colesevelam for Water Treatment.

Novel anion-exchange electrospun fiber membranes of polycaprolactone doped with the cationic, cross-linked colesevelam polymer are reported. The weight fraction of cross-linked cationic colesevelam polymer, as the active phase within the PCL matrix, can readily be controlled in the synthesis of the mixed-matrix fibers (Cole@PCL), enabling optimization of the ion-exchange properties of the resulted membranes. This approach enabled adaptation of anion-exchange resins to a permeable, flexible membrane form, which is a significant advancement toward futuristic water treatment applications, demonstrated herein for the removal of trace contaminants, including nitrates and phosphates, as well as anionic dyes. The Cole@PCL membranes demonstrated the dependence of contaminant uptake on the weight percentage of colesevelam in the mixed-matrix membrane. An optimal 10 wt % of colesevelam was identified, demonstrating a staggering ion removal capacity of 155.8 mg/g for nitrate, 177.6 mg/g for phosphate, and 70 mg/g for Methyl Orange.

Removal of antibiotics and estrogens by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes

The separation behavior of a variety of emerging contaminants, including nine antibiotics and six estrogens commonly reported in natural environment, by four commercial nanofiltration and reverse osmosis (NF/RO) membranes at various water conditions (pH, concentration) was investigated. The contaminant rejection at pH 6.0 followed a decreasing trend of XLE (94%–100%) ≈ NF90 (88%–100%) ＞ NF270 (25%–85%) ＞ DL (16%–75%). The dense structures of NF90 and XLE reflected by their small effective pore radii (0.30–0.31 nm) contributed mainly to their high rejection, demonstrating the important role of size exclusion. For the negatively charged loose NF270 and DL membranes (0.40–0.45 nm), charge repulsion made additional contribution, which is markedly reflected by their greater rejection to charged antibiotics than neutral estrogens (45%–85% vs. 25%–60% by NF270). The correlation between rejection data and normalized molecular sizes at pH 4.0 and 9.0 intuitively demonstrated the individual role of size exclusion and charge repulsion. The adsorption by membranes was mainly responsible for the initial compound reduction in feedwater by 6%–25% within 3 h, while only 0.3%–5.6% was attributed to self-degradation. The adsorption capacity was determined, which might be mainly governed by hydrophobic interaction. The resolved controlling factors and mechanisms will contribute to the accurate prediction and membrane selection for trace contaminant removal by membrane process.

Promise of nonthermal plasmas in addressing emerging environmental and health problems: Present and future

Nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasmas transform input electrical energy efficiently into reactive species, charged particles, and photons. This “activated gas” is being investigated as solutions for a range of environmental and health problems facing society today. In this Perspective, we take a cursory look at a few of these societal problems and the reflected role that plasmas may play in charting the pathway to a solution buoyed by supporting research. Here, we survey the plasma-based opportunities in the removal of trace contaminants in water supporting methodologies such as water reuse, which addresses scarcity and pollution, the opportunity posed by plasmas-based chemical depolymerization for plastics recycling, and the application of plasmas for food security, which includes sterilization of foodstuffs and the improvement of crop yield. Finally, we also included a short review on how plasmas may help control disease spread. In each case, the scope of the problem is presented along with the potential plasma-based solution.

Depression, Anxiety, Quality of Life, and Coping Strategies in People Exposed to Periodic Floods of Capivara River in Imperatriz City – Maranhão State, Brazil

Trace contaminant removal is of contemporary concern in drinking water and wastewater treatment, given increasing evidence of potential toxicity of various heavy metals and metalloids in water at parts per billion (ppb) concentration levels. Currently, only high-pressure reverse osmosis can reliably remove trace concentration contaminants from water but with high energy cost. Thus, the search is on for techniques and methods able to remove trace concentration contaminants with a lower energy footprint. Adsorption, a low energy technique for water and wastewater treatment is one possibility, which when coupled with the use of low-cost biomass as adsorbent, would further improve process efficiency. This synopsis describes work done on examining the use of local marine seaweed, Sargassum sp. for removing copper at low (4 to 20 ppm, parts per million) and trace concentration (< 1000 ppb), with and without ammonium ion interference at different solution pH. Specifically, to reduce organic leaching and improve mechanical stability, formaldehyde crosslinking was used and was effective in enhancing stability of seaweed between pH 3 and 9. But, residual organic leaching of ~ 4 ppm meant that modified seaweed was not suitable for drinking water treatment. Batch kinetic and equilibrium studies revealed that up to a threshold ammonium concentration of 50 ppm [NH4+-N], there was good sorption of copper on formaldehyde crosslinked seaweed (treated seaweed), with residual copper concentration of 0.5 ppm. Residual copper concentration increased with increase in ammonium concentration (up to 2500 ppm [NH4+-N]); thereby, highlighting a competitive binding effect for treated seaweed’s surface functional groups. Attempts to remove trace concentration copper highlighted feasibility of the approach. However, significant residual equilibrium concentration of copper remained in the solution. More importantly, thermodynamic considerations point to the existence of a finite residual equilibrium concentration for copper in water; thereby, making adsorption not feasible as a method for completely removing trace concentration copper. Additionally, surface concentration of copper at the adsorbent might, in some cases, be higher than the bulk solution; thus, leading to desorption of copper from the seaweed surface back to the solution. Collectively, adsorption is not capable of completely removing a contaminant such as is the case for reverse osmosis where the non-porous membrane serves as barrier separating treated water from raw influent.

Decoration of Fe3+ on carboxyl microporous organic network to fabricate magnetic porous carbon for efficient adsorption and removal of cationic dyes

Fabrication of novel magnetic porous materials for efficient magnetic adsorption and removal of environmental contaminants still remains great important and interesting in environmental science. Magnetic microporous organic networks (MONs) are a recent class of magnetic microporous materials highly potential in diverse areas. However, the strategies for the fabrication of magnetic MONs or MONs-derived magnetic adsorbents are still quite limited. To further develop novel method for the fabrication of MONs-derived magnetic adsorbents and to extend the application of MONs in environmental science, here we reported a convenient and new method by decorating Fe3+ on MON-2COOH to fabricate MON-derived magnetic porous carbon (MPC) for efficient adsorption and removal of cationic dyes from aqueous solution. The Fe3+ was firstly decorated on -COOH enriched MON-2COOH and then calcined to produce MPC under Ar atmosphere. The obtained MPC were well characterized and conducted to the adsorption of cationic dyes. The porous, negatively charged and unsaturated bond contained MPC gave extremely fast adsorption kinetics for cationic dyes via electrostatic, hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions. The adsorption of malachite green on MPC was fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetic, Langmuir adsorption and monolayer adsorption models, and gave much faster adsorption kinetics and larger adsorption capacities than anionic dyes. Furthermore, the good superparamagnetic behavior and reusability made MPC could be easily recycled and reused. This work not only provided a new strategy to synthesis MON-derived MPC, but also possessed the potential of magnetic MONs-based adsorbents for the adsorption and removal of cationic dyes or trace contaminants in environment.

Experimental Validation of a Multidimensional Model for an Indirect Temperature Swing Adsorption Unit

AbstractConventional temperature swing adsorption (TSA) is mainly applied for the removal of trace contaminants. Indirectly heated and cooled adsorbers were developed to make bulk separation economically feasible. A quasi‐continuous TSA process to remove CO2 from an N2/CO2 mixture with a pilot plant is established. The experimentally determined data are taken to validate and to adjust a 2D simulation model. For the validation, the CO2 desorption, the N2 recovery rate as well as the axial temperature profile are compared. The successful model validation can be seen in the good agreement between simulation and experimental results. Moreover, this process is able to separate high amounts of CO2 and to produce a nearly CO2‐free product stream.

Feature Based Fault Detection for Pressure Swing Adsorption Processes

Over the past few decades, there has been widespread development of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems, with their applications expanding from traditional bulk gas separation and drying, to CO2 sequestration, trace contaminant removal, and many others. With extensive industrial applications, there is a significant need for effective monitoring methods to detect and diagnose process abnormalities in realtime, as well as to facilitate predictive maintenance for avoiding major production disruptions ahead. Although periodic operations such as PSA have been used widely in chemical and petrochemical industries, the process monitoring of these operations has received limited attention compared to non-periodic continuous or batch processes. A potential reason is that the monitoring of periodic processes is significantly more challenging than that of processes operated at steady-state. In this work, we propose a data-driven feature space monitoring (FSM) approach for PSA processes. We show that the FSM based fault detection naturally addresses the challenges in monitoring periodic processes, such as unequal step and/or cycle time that requires trajectory alignment or synchronization for the traditional statistical process monitoring (SPM) methods. In addition, we demonstrate the superior fault detection performance of the proposed method compared to the conventional SPM methods using both simulated faults and real faults from an industrial PSA process.

Polymer-clay composite geomedia for sorptive removal of trace organic compounds and metals in urban stormwater

Functionalized polymer-clay composites were developed and characterized as engineered geomedia for trace contaminant removal during infiltration of urban runoff. Montmorillonite clays were functionalized with either poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride (PDADMAC) or poly(4-vinylpyridine-co-styrene) (PVPcoS) to enhance organic compound sorption using a simple, scalable synthesis method. Seven representative trace organic compounds and six trace metals were employed to assess the performance of the polymer-clay composites relative to biochar (i.e., an adsorbent proposed for similar purposes) in batch sorption and column studies under simulated stormwater conditions. Contaminant and geomedia electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, and the presence of natural organic matter (NOM) affected sorption. In batch studies, polymer-clay composites exhibited similar performance to biochar for perfluoroalkyl substance removal, but had lower affinity for polar pesticides and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate. Oxyanion removal was greatest for positively-charged PDADMAC-clay composites (particularly Cr[VI]), while PVPcoS-clay composites removed over 95% of Ni, Cd, and Cu. NOM decreased removal of all organic compounds, but increased trace metal removal on clay composites due to sorption of NOM-complexed metals. Polymer-clay composite-amended columns best removed oxyanions, while biochar-amended columns exhibited superior removal for all trace organics. At 3 wt% geomedia-sand loading, clay composites exhibited significantly higher saturated hydraulic conductivity than biochar, which is advantageous when clogging is a concern or when rapid infiltration is needed. Under typical urban stormwater conditions, the clay composites will remove contaminants for at least 20–30 years before regeneration or replacement is needed.

Can you use nitrification as a monitoring tool for removal of Organics and Trace Contaminants in a Biologically Activated Carbon (BAC) filter?

Can you use nitrification as a monitoring tool for removal of Organics and Trace Contaminants in a Biologically Activated Carbon (BAC) filter?

The Potential for the Treatment of Antimony-Containing Wastewater by Iron-Based Adsorbents

Antimony (Sb) and its compounds are considered as global priority pollutants. Elevated concentrations of antimony in natural and industrial process wastewater are of global concern, particularly given interest in the potential toxicity and harm to the environment from aquatic exposure. Iron-based materials for treatment by adsorption are widely regarded to have potential merit for the removal of trace contaminants from water and especially in the search for efficient and low-cost techniques. In this paper, we review the application of iron-based materials in the sorption treatment of antimony contaminated water. The interaction of Sb is discussed in relation to adsorption performance, influencing factors, mechanism, modelling of adsorption (isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic models), advantages, drawbacks and the recent achievements in the field. Although iron-based adsorbents show promise, the following three aspects are in need of further study. Firstly, a select number of iron based binary metal oxide adsorbents should be further explored as they show superior performance compared to other systems. Secondly, the possibility of redox reactions and conversion between Sb(III) and Sb(V) during the adsorption process is unclear and requires further investigation. Thirdly, in order to achieve optimized control of preferential adsorption sites and functional groups, the mechanism of antimony removal has to be qualitatively and quantitatively resolved by combining the advantages of advanced characterization techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Atomic force microscope(AFM), X-ray absorption near edge structure(XANES), and other spectroscopic methods. We provide details on the achievements and limitations of each of these stages and point to the need for further research.

Inorganic trace contaminant removal from real brackish groundwater using electrodialysis

Abstract The removal of inorganic trace contaminants from a real brackish groundwater from a remote Australian community using electrodialysis was investigated. Systematic investigation of applied voltage and solution pH was aimed to elucidate removal and deposition mechanisms in a complex water. A higher applied voltage enhanced removal of arsenic (V), boron, lithium, selenium (VI) and uranium. The removal of boron, lithium, sulfate, uranium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, zinc and selenium was pH dependent while the removal of bromide, chloride, fluoride and nitrate was pH independent. The precipitation of insoluble species at high pH and their complexation with other contaminants resulted in membrane deposition in the form of scaling. This influenced system performance in regards to an increase in stack resistance and decrease in removal of total dissolved solids. The hydrated radius and strength of hydration shells played a less important role in the transport and removal of ions during electrodialysis of real water in comparison to other parameter such us ion concentration and solution pH. Results from this study showed that although electrodialysis is effective in the removal of contaminants from real waters, consideration needs to be given to its long-term practical applicability in regards to membrane scaling.

Vacuum enhanced membrane distillation for trace contaminant removal of heavy metals from water by electrospun PVDF/TiO2 hybrid membranes

Electrospun hybrid membranes were synthesized using electrospinning of Poly (vinylidenefluoride) - titanium tetraisopropoxide (PVDF-TTIP) sol. Asymmetric post-treatment of membrane conducted for deprotonation of titanate and making hydrophilic/hydrophobic dual characteristics. The membranes were characterized by various methods such as wettability, scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and liquid entry pressure tests. For evaluating the separation performance, these membranes were applied in the VMD process to treat water heavy metal contaminants. The effects of operating parameters such as flow rate, temperature and membrane properties as porosity, on contaminant removal and producing ultra-pure water have been studied.

Impact of UV/H2O2 pre-oxidation on the formation of haloacetamides and other nitrogenous disinfection byproducts during chlorination.

Haloacetamides (HAcAms), an emerging class of nitrogen-based disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) of health concern in drinking water, have been found in drinking waters at μg/L levels. However, there is a limited understanding about the formation, speciation, and control of halogenated HAcAms. Higher ultraviolet (UV) doses and UV advanced oxidation (UV/H2O2) processes (AOPs) are under consideration for the treatment of trace organic pollutants. The objective of this study was to examine the potential of pretreatment with UV irradiation, H2O2 oxidation, and a UV/H2O2 AOP for minimizing the formation of HAcAms, as well as other emerging N-DBPs, during postchlorination. We investigated changes in HAcAm formation and speciation attributed to UV, H2O2 or UV/H2O2 followed by the application of free chlorine to quench any excess hydrogen peroxide and to provide residual disinfection. The results showed that low-pressure UV irradiation alone (19.5-585 mJ/cm(2)) and H2O2 preoxidation alone (2-20 mg/L) did not significantly change total HAcAm formation during subsequent chlorination. However, H2O2 preoxidation alone resulted in diiodoacetamide formation in two iodide-containing waters and increased bromine utilization. Alternatively, UV/H2O2 preoxidation using UV (585 mJ/cm(2)) and H2O2 (10 mg/L) doses typically employed for trace contaminant removal controlled the formation of HAcAms and several other N-DBPs in drinking water.

Impact of selected wastewater constituents on the removal of sulfonamide antibiotics via ultrafiltration and micellar enhanced ultrafiltration

To better understand the environmental mobility of sulfonamide antibiotics and develop improved processes for their removal during wastewater treatment, stirred cell ultrafiltration (UF) experiments were conducted using both synthetic and real wastewater effluent. The interactions between selected sulfonamides (sulfaguanidine, sulfathiazole and sulfamerazine), solids and dissolved organic matter were systematically explored. The further impact of micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF), a process in which surfactants are added at micellar concentrations to enhance removal of various trace contaminants from aqueous streams, was then explored by using a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Ultrafiltration of sulfonamides in the absence of other materials generally removed only 15–20% of the antibiotics. The presence of micellar solutions of CTAB generally improved removal of sulfonamides over UF alone, with rejections ranging from 20 to 74%. Environmental solids (sediment) further increased retention of sulfonamides using both UF and MEUF, but the presence of DOM did not influence rejection. Similar trends were observed on UF and MEUF of real effluent samples that had been spiked with the sulfonamides, confirming the environmental relevance of the observed interactions between sulfonamides, surfactant, and wastewater constituents. The results demonstrate that MEUF processes can be designed for the selective removal of such trace contaminants as sulfonamide antibiotics.

Removal of adsorbing estrogenic micropollutants by nanofiltration membranes: Part B—Modeldevelopment

Removal of estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) by nanofiltration membranes at neutral pH is carried out both by size exclusion and adsorption. Size exclusion is dependent on the solute to pore radius ratio and the hormone-membrane affinity. It has been shown that the higher the affinity between the trace contaminant and the membrane active layer, the more will partition and penetrate inside the membrane and in consequence permeate. Adsorption, on the other hand is dependent on the hormone concentration, the adsorption isotherm constant (i.e., proportion between the equilibrium concentration and the mass adsorbed) and membrane area available for sorption.To establish the transport mechanisms involved in the removal of trace contaminants by NF membranes, it is essential to discern between the different contributions of each of these effects independently. In reality, NF membranes have different pore radius, internal surface area and affinity with the contaminants, of which most of these are difficult to determine.This paper developed for the first time a model that describes the transport of hormones E1 and E2 through the NF membrane pores, in this case the NF 270 membrane, by taking transient adsorption into account. The different mechanisms of size exclusion, adsorption and membrane affinity were considered by modifying the hydrodynamicmodel.The model was numerically solved and allowed to obtain the concentration profiles along the NF270 membrane pore as a function of time. The model was validated by integrating these profiles and determining the total mass adsorbed on the membrane in transient regime that was then compared to the experimentaldata.Despite E1 adsorbing 20% more mass than E2 in static mode for the NF 270 membrane (i.e., no pressure applied), E1 adsorbs twice as much as E2 under the same cross-flow conditions. The much higher adsorption obtained for E1 in filtration mode can be explained by a higher partitioning inside the membrane, compared to E2. A higher partitioning increases the concentration of E1 inside the membrane pore, and as a consequence, causes higher adsorption. The model developed allowed therefore to clearly distinguish between the contributions of the different mechanisms involved in the removal of adsorbing hormones through NF membranes, i.e., concentration polarisation, solute-membrane affinity, size exclusion, adsorption, diffusion and convection. Although much debate exists on whether solute transport in NF pores is carried out solely by diffusion or by diffusion–convection, this model showed that transport by convection and diffusion described well the transport of adsorbing hormones by NF membranes, where convection especially contributed to the hormone transport for pressures above 11bar.

Boron removal efficiency from Red Sea water using different SWRO/BWRO membranes

Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process provides high quality of fresh water. However, due to some operational constraints mainly scaling control some trace contaminant removal, such as acceptable boron concentration, cannot be achieved in a single pass SWRO system. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficiency of five difference reverse osmosis (RO) membranes (seawater SW and brackish water BW) provided by different manufacturers for boron removal. RO experiments using pretreated real Red Sea water were conducted in parallel to compare membrane performance under the same operating conditions. As expected, results showed that boron rejection increased as the feed pH increased. This was caused by dissociation of boric acid to negatively charged borate ions and more negatively charged membrane surface at elevated pH which enhanced boron rejection. Single pass RO system, with and without elevating the pH, may not be sufficient for two reasons. First, boron concentration in permeate does not fulfill local regulations (<0.5ppm). Second, severe scaling occurs due to operation in alkaline condition, since Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations are still high to cause salts precipitation. Techno-economical study was performed to select the best configuration and membrane giving the highest performance in terms of boron and TDS rejections and energy consumption.

Demonstrating Advanced Oxidation Coupled with Biodegradation for Removal of Carbamazepine

Carbamazepine is an anthropogenic pharmaceutical found in wastewater effluents that is quite resistant to removal by conventional wastewater treatment processes. Hydroxyl radicalbased advanced oxidation process can transform carbamazepine into degradation products but cannot mineralize it in an economically efficient manner. This study evaluated the combination of ultraviolet plus hydrogen peroxide (UV-H2O2)-based advanced oxidation and biodegradation to enable carbamazepine removal; specifically, to determine whether the products of the advanced oxidation of carbamazepine can be further biodegraded by activated sludge microbial communities. The fate of 14C–carbamazepine was followed through benchscale advanced oxidation followed by biodegradation using liquid scintillation counting, and by liquid chromatography with either a mass spectrometric or a radiochemical detection. The results illustrate that carbamazepine oxidation products can be mineralized by activated sludge bacteria. This outcome suggests that combining advanced oxidation with a biologically active filtration treatment step can be effective for carbamazepine removal. This same treatment strategy should be evaluated for its effectiveness with other biologically recalcitrant organic micropollutants. Advanced oxidation followed by biodegradation may be a viable option for applying tertiary wastewater treatment to achieve trace contaminant removal. This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series . ISBN: 9781780400426 (eBook)

Engineering and optimization of nano- and mesoporous silica fibers using sol–gel and electrospinning techniques for sorption of heavy metal ions

In this paper, we report on a novel design strategy of an efficient sorbent for removal of trace contaminants from water. This kind of sorbent is composed of a nonporous core of SiO 2 nanofiber and a mesoporous shell (denoted as nSiO 2@mSiO 2 (“n” means “nonporous” and “m” means “mesoporous”)). The nSiO 2@mSiO 2 fiber possesses a continuously long fibrous shape and mesoporous micromorphology, thus, showing both high sorption capacity and separability. The flexible nonporous SiO 2 nanofiber was prepared with electrospinning first, followed by covering a mesoporous SiO 2 shell based on a modified Stöber method using CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) as the directing agent for formation of the mesopores. Also, functional thiol groups were grafted on the nSiO 2@mSiO 2 to enhance its performance. With a large specific surface area and long fibrous morphology, the nSiO 2@mSiO 2 fiber and its thiol-functionalized counterpart exhibit impressive performance on removal of Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ from water. Furthermore, the flexible texture and fibrous morphology of the nSiO 2@mSiO 2 fiber also made the removal of metal ions and the separation process more convenient and efficient, implying that the nSiO 2@mSiO 2 fiber could have great potential for industrial applications.

Laboratory scale studies of Pd/γ-Al2O3 sorbents for the removal of trace contaminants from coal-derived fuel gas at elevated temperatures

The Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is a promising technology for the use of coal in a clean and efficient manner. In order to maintain the overall efficiency of the IGCC process, it is necessary to clean the fuel gas of contaminants (sulfur, trace compounds) at warm (150–540°C) to hot (>540°C) temperatures. Current technologies for trace contaminant (such as mercury) removal, primarily activated carbon based sorbents, begin to lose effectiveness above 100°C, creating the need to develop sorbents effective at elevated temperatures. As trace elements are of particular environmental concern, previous work by this group has focused on the development of a Pd/γ-Al2O3 sorbent for Hg removal. This paper extends the research to Se (as hydrogen selenide, H2Se), As (as arsine, AsH3), and P (as phosphine, PH3) which thermodynamic studies indicate are present as gaseous species under gasification conditions. Experiments performed under ambient conditions in He on 20wt.% Pd/γ-Al2O3 indicate the sorbent can remove the target contaminants. Further work is performed using a 5wt.% Pd/γ-Al2O3 sorbent in a simulated fuel gas (H2, CO, CO2, N2 and H2S) in both single and multiple contaminant atmospheres to gauge sorbent performance characteristics. The impact of H2O, Hg and temperature on sorbent performance is explored.