title: Soluble hydrocarbons uptake by porous carbonaceous adsorbents at different water ionic strength and temperature: something to consider in oil spills.
abstract: Nowadays, petrochemical operations involve risks to the environment and one of the biggest is oil spills. Low molecular aromatics like benzene, toluene, and naphthalene dissolve in water, and because of their toxicological characteristics, these produce severe consequences to the environment. The oil spill cleanup strategies are mainly designed to deal with the heavy fractions accumulated on the water surface. Unfortunately, very limited information is available regarding the treatment of dissolved fractions.A commercial (Filtrasorb 400) and modified activated carbons were evaluated to remove benzene, toluene, and naphthalene from water, which are the most soluble aromatic hydrocarbons, at different ionic strengths (I) and temperatures (0-0.76 M and 4-25 °C, respectively). This allowed simulating the conditions of fresh and saline waters when assessing the performance of these adsorbents. It was found that the hydrocarbons adsorption affinity increased 12 % at a I of 0.5 M, due to the less negative charge of the adsorbent, while at a high I (≃0.76 M) in a synthetic seawater, the adsorption capacity decreased 21 % that was attributed to the adsorbent's pores occlusion by water clusters. Approximately, 40 h were needed to reach equilibrium; however, the maximum adsorption rate occurred within the first hour in all the cases. Moreover, the hydrocarbons adsorption and desorption capacities increased when the temperature augmented from 4 to 25 °C. On the other hand, thermally and chemically modified materials showed that the interactions between adsorbent-contaminant increased with the basification degree of the adsorbent surface.
authors.affiliation: División de Ciencias Ambientales, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica A.C., Camino a la Presa San José 2055, Col. Lomas 4a sección, C.P. 78216, San Luis Potosí, SLP, Mexico.
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Flores-Chaparro
authors.affiliation: División de Ciencias Ambientales, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica A.C., Camino a la Presa San José 2055, Col. Lomas 4a sección, C.P. 78216, San Luis Potosí, SLP, Mexico.
authors.forename: Luis Felipe Chazaro
authors.initials: LFC
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Álvaro Obregón 64, Centro Histórico, C.P. 78000, San Luis Potosí, SLP, Mexico.
authors.forename: Ma Catalina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Alfaro-De la Torre
authors.affiliation: División de Ciencias Ambientales, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica A.C., Camino a la Presa San José 2055, Col. Lomas 4a sección, C.P. 78216, San Luis Potosí, SLP, Mexico. rene@ipicyt.edu.mx.
authors.forename: Jose Rene
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rangel-Mendez
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001554:Benzene; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D009281:Naphthalenes; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D016062:Porosity; D013696:Temperature; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D009281:Naphthalenes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002606:Charcoal; C031721:naphthalene; D002244:Carbon; D001554:Benzene
keywords: Activated carbon; Adsorption; Aromatic hydrocarbons; Ionic strength