Treatment of effluent containing micropollutants by means of activated carbon.
Different amounts of granular activated carbon (GAC) have been tested for the removal of aliphatic and aromatic micropollutants contained in a liquid stream coming from an industrial plant. Tests have been carried out in a JAR-Test apparatus, using plugged flasks, in order to eliminate the oxygen influence on the adsorption process and to obtain information for studying the process in a pilot plant. The removal of aliphatic compounds resulted better than aromatic ones, probably because these substances are enveloped by water molecules which make adsorption on the GAC surface easier; in contrast, aromatic compounds show a lower affinity for the GAC, owing to their steric conformation. The good results obtained confirm that the proposed system is applicable to the examined effluent, even when the concentration of the pollutant load varies. In the latest part of this work, a plan for the construction of a full-scale plant to treat the examined wastewater has been developed.
Solisio
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Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, G.B. Bonino University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy. solisio@unige.it
Lodi
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A
Del Borghi
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M
D000327:Adsorption; D002606:Charcoal; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000517:prevention & control
D006838:Hydrocarbons; D002606:Charcoal