Impact of Powdered Activated Carbon Structural Properties on Removal of Organic Foulants in Combined Adsorption-Ultrafiltration
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Feed Water
2.2. Powdered Activated Carbons (PACs)
2.3. Ultrafiltration Set-Up and Membrane
2.4. Experimental Procedures
2.4.1. Filtration Experiments
2.4.2. Adsorption Isotherms
2.5. Analytical Methods
2.5.1. Water Analysis
2.5.2. Carbon Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Ultrafiltration
3.1.1. NOM Removal
3.1.2. Membrane Fouling by NOM
3.2. NOM Adsorption onto PAC
3.3. Combined Adsorption-Ultrafiltration
3.3.1. NOM Removal
3.3.2. Membrane Fouling
3.3.3. Impact of Particle Size
3.4. Impact of PAC Properties on Process Efficiency
4. Conclusions
- For the tested water, fouling was caused mainly by macromolecular fractions of humic substances, which carry a high amount of UV-absorbance (UVA254) and yellow color (SAC436).
- Conventional PAC performance indicators, such as B.E.T.-surface, iodine number, and nitrobenzene number, are not suitable to predict PACs potential for NOM removal or membrane fouling prevention because they include micro pores, which are not accessible for most NOM fractions.
- The meso-pore volume mainly governed the quantity of NOM removal and can be used to predict PACs’ potential to adsorb bulk organics.
- A high DOC rejection does not necessarily lead to considerable fouling prevention; rather, the quality of DOC that is removed is crucial for resulting filtration behavior.
- To prevent fouling, PACs should be selected that are able to specifically remove humic substances with high molecular weight.
- Particle size and associated specific surface area determine PACs potential to mitigate fouling in combined PAC-UF. This is because of a more homogeneous PAC distribution on the membrane surface, a better accessibility to meso-pores for organic molecules, an enhanced transport of solutes through the external boundary layer and, particularly, a higher external surface where macromolecular foulants are able to adsorb.
- Specific light absorption at 436 nm (SAC436) can serve as an indicator for the fouling potential of groundwater since it represents the macromolecular NOM fraction of the water.
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
References
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pH | EC | TOC | DOC | DOC (HS) 1 | UVA254 | SAC436 | SUVA | Ca2+ | Turb. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | μS cm−1 | mg L−1 | mg L−1 | mg L−1 | m−1 | m−1 | L m−1 mg−1 | mg L−1 | NTU |
7.9 | 410 | 3.49 ± 0.12 | 3.38 ± 0.10 | 2.24 ± 0.12 | 15.4 ± 0.08 | 1.19 ± 0.012 | 4.57 | 26.1 | 0.21 |
Parameter | Symbol | Unit | PAC 1 | PAC 2 | PAC 3 | PAC 3.1 | PAC 3.2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Source material | mixture | brown coal | brown coal | ||||
Particle characteristics | |||||||
Diameter (30% undersize) 1 | d30 | μm | 2.65 | 3.12 | 5.31 | 1.87 | 1.56 |
Diameter (50% undersize) 1 | d50 | μm | 3.59 | 4.37 | 10.30 | 2.97 | 2.50 |
Diameter (70% undersize) 1 | d70 | μm | 5.00 | 5.93 | 27.01 | 3.90 | 3.43 |
Specific surface area 2 | sv | μm−1 | 1.18 | 1.16 | 0.30 | 1.94 | 2.24 |
Pore structure | |||||||
Meso-pore surface | sp,meso | m2 g−1 | 351 | 471 | 288 | 256 | 271 |
Meso-pore volume | vp,meso | cm3 g−1 | 0.51 | 0.66 | 0.50 | 0.64 | 0.88 |
Meso-pore radius | rp70,meso | Å | 25.8 | 25.2 | 29.0 | 29.9 | 35.4 |
Micro-pore volume | vp,micro | cm3 g−1 | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.04 | 0.07 | 0.07 |
Internal surface area | |||||||
Total surface area | sB.E.T. | m2 g−1 | 1245 | 1489 | 1257 | 1099 | 1071 |
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Schulz, M.; Bünting, S.; Ernst, M. Impact of Powdered Activated Carbon Structural Properties on Removal of Organic Foulants in Combined Adsorption-Ultrafiltration. Water 2017, 9, 580. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9080580
Schulz M, Bünting S, Ernst M. Impact of Powdered Activated Carbon Structural Properties on Removal of Organic Foulants in Combined Adsorption-Ultrafiltration. Water. 2017; 9(8):580. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9080580
Chicago/Turabian StyleSchulz, Martin, Sönke Bünting, and Mathias Ernst. 2017. "Impact of Powdered Activated Carbon Structural Properties on Removal of Organic Foulants in Combined Adsorption-Ultrafiltration" Water 9, no. 8: 580. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9080580