Single and multicomponent equilibrium studies for the adsorption of acidic dyes on carbon from effluents.

The ability of activated carbon to adsorb three acidic dyes, namely, Acid Blue 80 (AB80), Acid Red 114 (AR114), and Acid Yellow (AY117), from wastewater has been studied at 20 degrees C. The three single-component systems and the three binary equilibrium systems have been measured experimentally. The three single-component isotherms were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Sips equations. The Redlich-Peterson equation gave the lowest errors using the sum of the squares of the errors closely followed by the Sips and Langmuir equations; the Freundlich fits were significantly worse. The three bisolute experimental equilibrium sets of data were analyzed by incorporating the previous four single-component isotherm equations into the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). The solution methods for each of the four isotherm equations are presented in the paper, and the predicted results for the three bisolute systems, using the four isotherm equations, are compared. For the three bisolute systems (AB80 + AR114, AB80 + AY117, and AR114 + AY117), the Redlich-Peterson isotherm gives the best correlation with the experimental isotherm data.

Film and intraparticle mass transfer during the adsorption of metal ions onto bone char.

The sorption of three metal ions, namely, copper, cadmium, and zinc, onto bone char has been studied in terms of equilibrium and rate studies. Equilibrium studies have been analyzed using the Langmuir isotherm equation and the maximum sorption capacities for the metals were 0.477, 0.709, and 0.505 mmolg(-1) bone char for cadmium, copper, and zinc ions, respectively. The kinetic experimental data were used to analyze the effect of external film boundary layer and intraparticle mass transfer resistance on the sorption process and its significance. Four methods of determining the external film transport coefficient were developed and tested; three utilized experimental data to obtain the coefficient and the fourth method was completely empirical. The three experimentally based models give very similar results and consequently similar values of the deviation error values, whereas the error values for the empirical correlation were greater than these three values. The results also demonstrated that the methods for determining the film coefficient could be integrated into more complex diffusion-transport models such as film-intraparticle diffusion processes.

Sorption equilibria of metal ions on bone char.

The ability of bone char to adsorb three metal ions, namely, copper(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) ions from wastewater has been studied. Three single-component equilibrium systems and three binary equilibrium systems have been measured experimentally. The three single-component equilibrium data were analyzed using the Langmuir and the Sips equilibrium isotherm equations. The Sips isotherm gave a better fit of the experimental data than the Langmuir isotherm based on the sum of squares errors (SSE) analysis. The Cu-Zn, Cu-Cd and Cd-Zn binary equilibrium experimental data were examined by incorporating the Langmuir and the Sips isotherm equations into the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). The solution methods and the predicted results for the three binary systems at different metal ion compositions have been evaluated. In addition, the application of the IAST to the model prediction for the fixed bed system is presented.

Solar photocatalytic thin film cascade reactor for treatment of benzoic acid containing wastewater.

A solar photocatalytic cascade reactor was constructed to study the photocatalytic oxidation of benzoic acid in water under various experimental and weather conditions at HKUST. Nine stainless steel plates coated with TiO(2) catalyst were arranged in a cascade configuration in the reactor. Photolytic degradation and adsorption were confirmed to be insignificant total organic carbon (TOC) removal mechanisms. A turbulent flow pattern and, hence, improved mixing in the liquid film were achieved due to the unique cascade design of the reactor. The photoinduced consumption of oxygen during reactions was demonstrated in a sample experiment. The proposed rate equations provided good fits to 90 data points from 17 experiments. The regression results showed that the TOC removal rates averaged over 30 min intervals did not illustrate significant dependence on TOC(0) and that I(mean) was more important in affecting the photocatalytic process within the ranges of the data examined. The percentage removal of TOC in 7 l of 100 mg/l (or 100 ppm) benzoic acid solutions increased from 30% to 83% by adding 10 ml of hydrogen peroxide solution (30 wt%). Hydrogen peroxide was also shown to enhance the efficiency of the degradation process at elevated temperatures. Ortho-, meta- and para-hydroxybenzoic acids were identified by HPLC analysis as the intermediates of benzoic acid during reactions without the addition of hydrogen peroxide solutions.