Types Of Activated Carbon Research Articles

Adsorption and decomposition of tar model compounds over the surface of gasification char and active carbon within the temperature range 250–800 °C

The carbonaceous products of gasification or pyrolysis (chars) and active carbon (AC) have been found effective as adsorbents for tar species and active as catalysts for tar conversion. However, a deeper understanding of the interaction between aromatic compounds and carbonaceous surfaces is needed for the practical implementation and optimization of carbon–based gas cleaning systems. The aim of this work is to investigate the performance of various wood-derived chars and AC within a wide temperature range (250–800 °C). Residual char from gasification, pyrolysis char and two types of AC were tested for their capability to remove tar model compounds (toluene and naphthalene) from a gaseous flow. A dedicated setup was used for this purpose, while post-experimental characterization revealed the modifications occurring at the surface of chars. Adsorption was observed in the lower temperature range, whereas cracking reactions were found to initiate at 600 °C and to become significant at 800 °C. Results suggested that AC represents a better option for tar adsorption applications (e.g. carbon filters) operating at temperatures of 250 °C and possibly below, whereas gasification residual char resulted as the most promising substrate for tar cracking at temperatures of 800 °C and above.

Unraveling charge transport in carbon flow-electrodes: Performance prediction for desalination applications

Carbon based flow-electrodes are a growing research field and find potential application in water treatment processes as well as energy conversion and storage. Flow-electrodes usually consist of a pumpable carbon slurry made of carbon particles suspended in a n electrolyte solution. One application for flow-electrodes is flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI), a membrane-based, electrically-driven desalination method using mostly activated carbon as active material. The use of flow-electrodes in contrast to static electrodes enables a continuous operation and the treatment of high salinity solutions. However, the performance of FCDI processes heavily relies on the activated carbon quality. The process performance results from a wide range of parameters, including the activated carbon sample characteristics, which are usually not sufficiently covered and predicted by standard carbon analyses. With this article, we demonstrate the applicability of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as predictive characterization method for flow-electrode materials. This includes the investigation of influencing system parameters and carbon characteristics, and the development of an equivalent circuit model. The findings display a charge percolation threshold and allow insight into the charge transfer mechanisms in capacitive flow-electrodes. Finally, we demonstrate the possibility to predict and match the desalination performance of flow-electrodes based on different activated carbon types using EIS.

Acceleration of microiron-based dechlorination in water by contact with fibrous activated carbon

Zero-valent iron (ZVI) is widely applied for reduction of chlorohydrocarbons in water. Since the dechlorination occurs at the iron surface, marked differences in rate constants are commonly found for nanoscale and microscale ZVI. It has already been shown for trichloroethene (TCE) adsorbed to activated carbon (AC) that the dechlorination reaction is shifted to the carbon surface simply by contacting the AC with highly reactive nanoscale ZVI particles. Transfer of reactive species to the adsorbed pollutant was discussed.The present study shows that even low price and very low reactive microscale ZVI can also be utilized for an effective dechlorination process. Compared to the reaction rate at the iron surface itself, an enormous acceleration of the dechlorination rate for chlorinated ethenes was observed, reaching activity levels such as known for nanoscale ZVI. When fibrous AC is brought into direct contact with microscale ZVI the iron-surface-normalised dechlorination rate constants increased by up to four orders of magnitude. This implies that the dechlorination reaction is fully transferred to the AC surface. At the same time, the anaerobic corrosion of the same material was not substantially affected. Thus, the utilization of iron's reduction equivalents towards dechlorination (dechlorination efficiency) can be considerably enhanced. A screening with various AC types showed that the extent of rate acceleration depends strongly on the surface chemistry of the AC. By means of temperature-programmed desorption, it could be shown that concentration and type of oxygen surface groups determine the redox-mediation properties. Quinone/hydroquinone groups were identified as being the main drivers for electron-transfer processes, but to some extent other redox-active groups such as chromene and pyrone can also act as redox mediators. AC overall plays the role of a catalyst rather than a reactant. The present study derives recommendations for practical application of the findings in water-treatment approaches.

STUDY ON DEALUMINATED ZEOLITIC TUFF FOR HYDROCARBON REMOVAL FROM WATER

This study aims to develop a new adsorbent from Jordanian raw zeolitic tuff (RZT) for oil depollution control of surface waters. Therefore the properties of chemically treated Jordanian dealuminated zeolitic tuff were investigated. Zeolitic tuff (i.e., phillipsiterich tuffs) was modified via (i) dealumination by single acidic treatment (TZT) and (ii) further treatment of the dealuminated zeolitic tuff by microemulsion technique (MeTZT). Series of adsorbents were prepared by impregnation method and characterized by using different techniques such as: X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) method, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) to obtain information about the structural, chemical and surface properties of zeolite materials. The performance of the adsorbents was followed by adsorption capacity measurements expressed as the ratio of the mass of adsorbed hydrocarbon to the weight of the used sorbent. The adsorption capacities of the dealuminated zeolitic tuff were studied under different experimental conditions for model hydrocarbon pollutants, using a Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analyzer. The obtained results revealed that the adsorption capacity of the modified zeolitic tuff improved by increasing the hydrophobic properties. A comparative account of the adsorption capacities of all adsorbents was compared to activated carbon type AquaCarb. The sorption capacity increased from 34% (for RZT) to 107% for (TZT) using kerosene as model hydrocarbon mixture, and from 85% to 162% for octane model compound, while the sorption capacity enhanced from 116% to166 % for dodecane model compound, when the sorption capacities were tested by using RZT and TZT. However, when the microemulsified treated zeolitic tuff was tested even higher hydrocarbon sorption capacities were measured than in case of the deauliminated zeolitic tuff, which supports the notion that the surface modification of the zeolitic tuff was successful.

Catalytic fast pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse using activated carbon catalyst in a hydrogen atmosphere to selectively produce 4-ethyl phenol

Activated carbon (AC) prepared by physical activation with steam (named as AC-H2O) was employed for catalytic fast pyrolysis of bagasse in a hydrogen atmosphere to selectively produce 4-ethyl phenol (4-EP), a valuable phenolic compound. Lab-scale fast pyrolysis experiments were conducted to quantitatively determine the pyrolytic products and investigate several factors on the 4-EP production, including pyrolysis atmosphere, AC type, catalytic pyrolysis temperature, and AC-to-bagasse ratio. The results indicated that the AC-H2O (activated by H2O) catalyst exhibited much better performance on 4-EP production than other ACs prepared by different activation methods. Compared with the inert atmosphere, the presence of hydrogen atmosphere could significantly promote the 4-EP formation with the yield increase by over 36%. The maximal 4-EP yield of 3.55 wt% with the selectivity of 17.42% was obtained under AC-to-bagasse ratio of 1.5 at 330 °C. In addition, the gas product produced by the pyrolysis process could be recycled to provide a hydrogen atmosphere without an additional hydrogen supply.

Enhanced nitrate removal by micro-electrolysis using Fe0 and surfactant modified activated carbon

This paper investigated the enhancement of nitrate removal by micro-electrolysis using Fe0 and surfactant modified activated carbon (ACs). Effects of various parameters such as AC types, Fe0 to ACs mass ratio, initial pH and initial DO concentration were studied. The results indicate that the application of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) modified ACs is an alternative path to achieve higher nitrate removal even at neutral and basic pH conditions, while the most suitable AC is the AC modified by 25 mmol/L of cationic surfactant CTAC. Final removal of nitrate is increased with the Fe0 to AC mass ratio increasing from 1:1 to 3:1, and further increase of the mass ratio results a decline of the removal. pH is found to be a key parameter affecting micro-electrolysis, and it is found that the nitrate removal declines with pH increase, and an accepted removal about 72.0% can be observed at neutral and 58.0% at even basic pH conditions in the system of Fe0/surfactant modified ACs. The DO concentration of the solution is found to have dramatically effect on Fe0 reduction, and the increase of DO concentration will bring significant reduction in nitrate removal. Mechanism of the reaction was investigated through monitoring the concentrations of both ferrous ion and ammonia, as well as establishment an adsorption-reduction model. The results show that the nitrate was removed by the co-effect of electrochemical reduction and ACs adsorption, while the adsorption effect has played a significant part in nitrate removal. The fitting adsorption/reduction kinetic model indicate that fast reduction of nitrate commonly occurred at the acidic pH conditions with absence of DO, while the adsorption effect dominated in neutral or basic pH conditions.

Low temperature selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with urea over activated carbon supported metal oxide catalysts

ABSTRACTSelective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (SCR) with loaded urea is a method for removing NO under oxygen-rich and low-temperature conditions, which can solve the inhibitory effect of oxygen on the catalyst and the slip of ammonia. In present study, a series of activated carbon (wo-AC, co-AC, cs-AC and nu-AC) supported metal (Mn, Fe, Co, Cu and Zn) oxide catalysts with loading urea were prepared by ultrasonic assisted impregnation. The catalysts were used for NO removal at 50–120°C and characterized by XRD, SEM, GFAAS, EDS, XPS, BET and FTIR techniques. The effects of activated carbon type, loaded active element, metal oxides loading, temperature fluctuation on catalytic activity and the catalytic stability were also studied in this paper. The results indicated that nutshell-based activated carbon was more suitable as a carrier than other activated carbons, and urea-10Mn/nu-AC catalyst yielded a higher NO conversion than other catalysts. Besides, for used activated carbons, the larger specific surface area, more micropores distribution and the larger number of hydroxyl group and cyano terminal group are beneficial to the catalytic process. Moreover, the downward trend of NO conversion with increasing temperature suggested the adsorption of reactant gases played a crucial role in the catalytic process of urea-SCR.

Development of novel polyethylene air-cathode material for microbial fuel cells

Air-cathode fabrication is currently a key factor that hinders the scaling up of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. A new type of cathode material that contains porous polyethylene (PE) sheet and a blended activated carbon (AC) and highly conductive carbon back (CB) layer was developed for the first time. The PE sheet functions as both gas diffusion layer (GDL) and cathode supporting material. The blended AC and CB layer eliminates expensive current collector. Among different types of PE sheets and AC and CB blending ratios, the cathode with Type I PE sheet (75–110 μm pore size) and a CB/AC ratio of 1: 0.5 demonstrated the best performance (8.4 A m−2 at 0 V) in electrochemical cells. MFCs with this cathode generated more stable and higher power densities compared with those using PTFE cathodes. Simulation of ohmic potential drops across this cathode material suggests that using a two-parallel terminal connection design would result in only 0.04 V potential drop at 1 m2 scale. This study suggests that this new PE cathode material has great potential for use in scaled up MFC systems due to its decent performance, simple fabrication process, and use of low-cost material.

Preparation of Activated Carbon/N-doped Titania Composite for Synergistic Adsorption-photocatalytic Oxidation of Batik Dye

A synergetic improved composite TiO2 photocatalysts was successfully synthesized by using nitrogen (N) as a dopant and activated carbon (AC) as synergetic compound. Two different types of AC prepared from Garcinia mangostana shell and commercial AC obtained from palm shell were chosen as synergetic compound. Thus synthesized composites was further characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface analyzer and UV-visible light spectroscope. The doping of N resulted in a better solar light utilization potential. Furthermore, synergizing with AC contributed for the improved BET surface area and pore size distribution. The synergetic adsorption-photocatalytic activity was investigated by removing a commercial batik dye namely Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) under direct solar irradiation. The synergetic experiments showed that commercial AC synergized with N-TiO2 resulted with a maximum removal efficiency of ∼80% in 6 h.

Extension of Kelvin equation to CO2 adsorption in activated carbon

CO2 adsorption in activated carbon (AC) at ambient temperature was found to be mainly accomplished by filling of pores with diameter smaller than 1 nm. Kelvin equation correlates operating conditions with the critical (or maximum) diameter of pores where pore filling occurs, but it is not valid for the micropores due to deviation of the physical parameters of CO2 from their normal values. This work extends Kelvin equation to CO2 adsorption in AC by introducing a general dimensionless parameter (KCO2-AC, termed YL parameter) to account for the changes in physical parameters of CO2 in micropores. This approach is similar to the use of fugacity and activity coefficients to modify the ideal gas equation. The work includes measurements of CO2 adsorption capacity for 3 types of AC, fitting the capacity to the ACs' pores from the smallest one to the larger ones to determine the critical pore diameter at each condition, and fitting the critical pore diameter data to a modified Kelvin equation to obtain KCO2-AC. It is found that KCO2-AC varies slightly with the pore diameter but significantly with temperature and can be approximated by an empirical equation. The modified Kelvin equation excellently describes CO2 adsorption data for ACs reported in the literature and studied in this work.

Photocatalytic evaluation of RGO/TiO2NWs/Pd-Ag nanocomposite as an improved catalyst for efficient dye degradation

In this work RGO/TiO2NWs/Pd-Ag nanocomposite was prepared by using a combination of hydrothermal and photo-deposition methods. The properties of all prepared products were evaluated by using SEM, XRD, DRS, FT-IR, EDS, BET, TEM, TGA and ICP-OES analysis. Nanodimension structure of all samples was confirmed by TEM and SEM results. The calculated band gap values which were obtained by using DRS technique, suggested that Gr/TiO2NWs/Pd-Ag nanocomposites have a semiconductor behavior with a direct band-gap value of 2.95 eV. The amount of loaded graphene in the nanocomposite was evaluated by using TGA analysis. The degradation of rhodamine B and methylene blue by TiO2-NWs and RGO/TiO2NWs/Pd-Ag nanocomposites were compared under UV light irradiation in similar conditions. The observations confirmed that the RGO/TiO2NWs/Pd-Ag nanocomposite have high photocatalytic performance toward both of pollutants owning to the much higher available surface area of TiO2 nanowires, the unique synergic effect of Pd and Ag species and high electric transport property of the graphene structure. The product synthesis procedure has valuable advantages like high surface area photocatalyst, facile photodeposition of silver and palladium on the TiO2 surface, and simple conversion of graphene oxide (GO) to reduced graphene oxide (RGO) during the hydrothermal process without using strong reducing agents, which can be a promising route for preparing various types of high active carbon based nanocomposite photocatalyst.

Investigating the influences of electrode material property on degradation behavior of organic wastewaters by iron-carbon micro-electrolysis

The degradation of Sunset Yellow (SY) wastewater was carried out using Fe-C micro-electrolysis process under the optimal conditions: initial pH 6, Fe/C ratio 1:1, Fe/C total mass 500 g·L−1 and the air flow rate 45 L·h−1. Effects of particle size, particle shape and material species of activated carbon (AC) on degradation and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies of SY by the Fe-C micro-electrolysis process were studied. The degradation and COD removal efficiencies of 500 mg·L−1 SY were approximately 99.0% and 77.5% after 90 min treatment with 3–6 mm spherical coal-based AC particles. Additionally, the degradation and COD removal efficiencies of SY maintained over 99.0% and 65.0% after 90 min treatment with any other types of AC. The stability of the Fe-C micro-electrolysis process was preferably and the AC surfaces before used and after used for 20 times were characterized by SEM, XPS, and XRD. In addition, the decomposition and degradation process was determined by UV–Vis analysis of the treated SY wastewaters. In conclusion, the particle size, particle shape and material species of AC indeed have influences on the degradation and COD removal efficiencies of SY by the Fe-C micro-electrolysis process and 3–6 mm coal-based spherical AC was selected as the optimal electrode material. Moreover, the antibiotic and printing wastewaters were selected to investigate the feasibility of degradation of other refractory organic wastewaters by Fe-C micro-electrolysis process.

The use of activated carbons for removing organic matter from groundwater

AbstractThe article presents research results of the introduction of powdery activated carbon to the existing technological system of the groundwater treatment stations in a laboratory, pilot plant and technical scale. The aim of the research was to reduce the content of organic compounds found in the treated water, which create toxic organic chlorine compounds (THM) after disinfection with chlorine. Nine types of powdery active carbons were tested in laboratory scale. The top two were selected for further study. Pilot plant scale research was carried out for the filter model using CWZ-30 and Norit Sa Super carbon. Reduction of the organic matter in relation to the existing content in the treated water reached about 30%. Research in technical scale using CWZ-30 carbon showed a lesser efficiency with respect to laboratory and pilot-plant scale studies. The organic matter decreased by 15%. Since filtration is the last process before the individual disinfection, an alternative solution is proposed, i.e. the second stage of filtration with a granular activated carbon bed, operating in combined sorption and biodegradation processes. The results of tests carried out in pilot scale were fully satisfactory with the effectiveness of 70–100%.

Adsorptive removal of sulfate from acid mine drainage by polypyrrole modified activated carbons: Effects of polypyrrole deposition protocols and activated carbon source

Polypyrrole modified activated carbon was used to remove sulfate from acid mine drainage water. The polypyrrole modified activated carbon created positively charged functionality that offered elevated sorption capacity for sulfate. The effects of the activated carbon type, approach of polymerization, preparation temperature, solvent, and concentration of oxidant solution over the sulfate adsorption capacity were studied at an array of initial sulfate concentrations. A hardwood based activated carbon was the more favorable activated carbon template, and this offered better sulfate removal than when using bituminous based activated carbon or oak wood activated carbon as the template. The hardwood-based activated carbon modified with polypyrrole removed 44.7 mg/g sulfate, and this was five times higher than for the pristine hardwood-based activated carbon. Various protocols for depositing the polypyrrole onto the activated carbon were investigated. When ferric chloride was used as an oxidant, the deposition protocol that achieved the most N+ atomic percent (3.35%) while also maintaining the least oxygen atomic percent (6.22%) offered the most favorable sulfate removal. For the rapid small scale column tests, when processing the AMD water, hardwood-based activated carbon modified with poly pyrrole exhibited 33 bed volume compared to the 5 bed volume of pristine activated carbons.

Production and Characterization of Sewage-Sludge Based Activated Carbons Under Different Post-Activation Conditions

In the present study, sewage sludge (SS) was applied for the preparation of activated carbons (ACs) by chemical activation with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and acid (HCl, HF) and base (NaOH) washing as post-treatment steps were employed to eliminate the mineral matter and other impurity composition of sewage-sludge based ACs. The post-treatment methods under study for the AC include: (1) the as-prepared AC by chemical activation with H3PO4 (aAC) was soaked with sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH), (2) the as-carbonized SS (cAC) by chemical activation with H3PO4 was soaked with sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH), (3) the aAC refluxed with hydrochloric acid (HCl), washed with NaOH solution and then soaked with HCl, (4) the aAC refluxed with NaOH, washed with HCl and then soaked with NaOH, and (5) aAC refluxed with HCl and then autoclaved with hydrofluoric acid (HF). The resultants ACs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the standard Brunauer-Emmet-Teller method (BET), FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The results of FT-IR demonstrate that the properties of the post-treated final products are dependent on the method used and that it contains similar functional groups to those present in the untreated AC, but at a higher peak intensity. XRF results indicated that refluxing AC with HF removed the impurities and decreased the percentage composition of silicon dioxide. BET surface area and pore volume of the post-treated AC were about sixty times higher than that of aAC. The BET surface area rose from 5.58 to 511 m2 g−1 and pore volume increased around 13% when compared with that of the untreated AC sample. The five types of AC showed high Cr (VI) adsorption capacities, however, haAC adsorbed more Cr (VI) than AC.

Molecular Simulation Study of the Adsorption and Diffusion of a Mixture of CO2/CH4 in Activated Carbon: Effect of Textural Properties and Surface Chemistry

In this study, the effect of pore textural property and surface functionalization in activated carbon (AC) on the competitive adsorption and diffusion of a binary mixture of CO2/CH4 was examined by grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations and equilibrium molecular dynamics. The simulation results indicated that AC with a high surface area exhibited a low CO2/CH4 selectivity, while a high CO2 adsorption capacity was observed. To obtain high CO2 adsorption capacity and high CO2/CH4 selectivity at the same time, surface chemistry (adsorbent–adsorbate interaction) and pore textural property (pore size) were investigated. On this basis, two types of AC were prepared: (I) with different pore sizes, attributed to building ordered pores and (II) with different surface chemistry properties, attributed to modification with different functional groups. The results showed that the effects of surface chemistry properties are factors more important for improving the CO2/CH4 capacity and selectivity.

Thermodynamic analysis and performance of an adsorption refrigeration system driven by solar collector

This paper presents the operating and performance of an adsorption refrigeration system driven by a solar collector. The thermodynamic cycle and the working principle of the system are based on the adsorption phenomena at a steady temperature. The system operates with activated carbon (AC)-methanol as a working pair, and Dubinin-Astakhov (D-A) equation was used to describe this phenomena. Comparative study between different types of AC reveals that the one based on stone coal had an optimal performance coefficient (COP) equal to 0.73 whereas a total energy input to the system is 18740.05kJ and a total daily ice production of 13.65kg at −3°C. The studied case indicates that the optimal performance of the system can be obtained for low ambient and condensation temperature with high evaporation temperature. Ice produced can also be improved when the initial water temperature is low.

Study of the confined behavior of hydrocarbons in organic nanopores by the potential theory

To accurately describe the confined behavior of hydrocarbons in nanopores has become a top priority for the effective development of unconventional resources. In this paper, the multicomponent potential theory of adsorption (MPTA) is coupled with the cubic Peng-Robinson (PR) equation of state (EOS) to investigate and represent the confined behavior of pure hydrocarbons and their mixtures in organic nanopores. In this theory, the fluid–fluid interactions are modeled by the PR EOS. For the fluid-solid interactions, the 10-4-3 Steele potential is used for slit-like nanopores, and a modified Lennard-Jones (LJ) 10-6 potential is used for cylindrical nanopores. Then a prediction process for the behavior of methane, ethane, propane and their mixtures (binary and ternary mixtures) is performed. The results are compared against experimental data on the adsorbents of activated carbons (slit-like nanopores) and MCM-41 silica (cylindrical nanopores) to validate the accuracy of the theory and process. Results indicate that for the sets of experimental data considered in this work, the theory is capable of predicting the confined behavior of pure components in wide ranges of pressure and temperature. For pure components, because of the different interaction energy between fluids and solid walls, the density of confined fluids in the slit-like nanopores (activated carbon type) is much higher than that in the cylindrical nanopores (MCM-41 silica type). As a position (z) approaches the pore surface, the effect of fluid-solid interactions is enhanced, and the density of confined fluids is increased. For binary mixtures, the mole fraction of the heavier component (C2H6/C3H8) around the pore surface is extremely higher than that of the lighter component (CH4). The higher the difference between the two components, the higher the difference of the mole fractions and fluid densities of the two components in nanopores. For a ternary mixture, the confined behavior of the three components within nanopores is significantly different. As a position approaches the pore center, the mole fraction of the lightest component is increased gradually, and the mole fraction of the heaviest component is reduced gradually. The medium component shows a tendency of increasing first and reducing then. This investigation makes it possible to get some new insights on the confined behavior of hydrocarbons in nanopores with different geometries.

Sorbent Mass Variation Method: A New Possibility for the Determination of Binding Isotherms.

Measurement of equilibrium mass fraction of a surfactant as a function of the sorbent mass fraction was performed on gel sorbent-solution systems in order to determine binding isotherms and to calculate fundamental characteristics of the solvation layer. With application of this new method, it was possible to calculate specific solvation/sorption capacity and absolute average local composition of the solvation layer. It has been pointed out by systematic variation of the composition (hydrophobicity) and degree of cross-linking of the gel sorbents that the ratio of components in the solvation layer can be constant in a given range of equilibrium mass fraction of the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and that the specific solvation/sorption capacity of gel sorbents can be much greater than that of activated carbon type adsorbents. On the basis of a mixed sorbent model, it turned out from calculations that there is no preferential binding of SDS close to the chemical cross-links and that the surfactant molecules prefer vinyl acetate groups as binding sites. The density of cross-links regulates the aggregation number of the bound surfactant as well. For loose gels, both binding isotherms and swelling curves show that the surfactant-polymer interaction is a strongly cooperative process. The result of these experiments may influence the general concept of solvation/sorption isotherms and all related phenomena.

Predicting trace organic compound attenuation with spectroscopic parameters in powdered activated carbon processes

The removal of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) is of growing interest in water research and society. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) has been proven to be an effective method of removal for TOrCs in water, with the degree of effectiveness depending on dosage, contact time, and activated carbon type. In this study, the attenuation of TOrCs in three different secondary wastewater effluents using four PAC materials was studied in order to elucidate the effectiveness and efficacy of PAC for TOrC removal. With the notable exception of hydrochlorothiazide, all 14 TOrC indicators tested in this study exhibited a positive correlation of removal rate with their log Dow values, demonstrating that the main adsorption mechanism was hydrophobic interaction. As a predictive model, the modified Chick-Watson model, often used for the prediction of microorganism inactivation by disinfectants, was applied. The applied model exhibited good predictive power for TOrC attenuation by PAC in wastewater. In addition, surrogate models based upon spectroscopic measurements including UV absorbance at 254 nm and total fluorescence were applied to predict TOrC removal by PAC. The surrogate model was found to provide an excellent prediction of TOrC attenuation for all combinations of water quality and PAC type included in this study. The success of spectrometric parameters as surrogates in predicting TOrC attenuation by PAC are particularly useful because of their potential application in real-time on-line sensor monitoring and process control at full-scale water treatment plants, which could lead to significantly reduced operator response times and PAC operational optimization.