1 research outputs found
Simulating Effluent Organic Matter Competition in Micropollutant Adsorption onto Activated Carbon Using a Surrogate Competitor
Adsorption onto activated carbon
is a promising option for removing
organic micropollutants (OMPs) from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)
effluents. The heterogeneity of activated carbons and adsorption competition
between OMPs and adsorbable compounds of the effluent organic matter
(EfOM) complicate the prediction of OMP removals. Thus, reliable and
simple test systems are desirable. For this study, batch experiments
with powdered activated carbon (PAC) were carried out to examine methyl
orange (MO) as a selected surrogate competitor to simulate EfOM adsorption
competition. MO solutions were spiked with carbamazepine (CBZ) as
an indicator substance for well-adsorbing OMPs. On the basis of CBZ
adsorption isotherms in WWTP effluents, MO concentrations for batch
test solutions with identical adsorption competition toward CBZ were
calculated. The calculations were performed according to an empirical
model of CBZ adsorption in the presence of MO, since predictions employing
the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) proved to be inaccurate.
Comparative batch tests with five different PACs were conducted with
WWTP effluent and respective MO batch test solutions. Except for one
PAC, the achieved CBZ removals were very similar in WWTP effluent
and the test solution. Additionally, a universal correlation between
MO and CBZ removals was found for four PACs