ADSORPTION

FOR
WASTEWATER
TREATMENT

Dr. Tarmizi Taher

 • Introduction
• Classification of adsorption

Outline
• Materials of adsorbent
• Application of adsorption
• Recent development of adsorption
Introduction
• Adsorption is the accumulation or concentration of substances at a
surface or interface.
• The adsorbing phase is termed the adsorbent and the material being
adsorbed the adsorbate.
• The process for adsorbates to release from adsorbent surfaces into
water –Desorption
• Adsorption can occur between two phases, namely liquid–liquid, gas–
liquid, gas–solid, or liquid–solid interfaces.
• When activated carbon is used, the adsorbing phase is a solid
Adsorption classification
• According to the surface adsorption
capabilities of adsorbents:
• Physisorption  induced by van der Waals
forces
• Chemisorption  the adsorbate undergoes
chemical interaction with the adsorbent
• Ion-exchange adsorption
Adsorption classification
Materials of adsorbent
• Activated Carbon- Produced through molding, carbonization and
activation of coal or wood material; lignite, peat, nut shell, coconut
shell, lignin, petroleum coke, and synthetic high polymers.
• Category: Granular activated carbon (GAC) & Powdered activated
carbon (PAC)
Materials of adsorbent
• Highly porous; with specific surface area of 700 – 1200 m 2/g
• Micropore: pore diameter < 4 nm, its internal surface area taking up
over 95% of the total surface area
• Mesopore (transitional pore): pore diameter: 4-100 nm, occupying less
than 5%
• Macropore: pore diameter > 100 nm, occupying less than 1%
Materials of adsorbent
Classes of organic compounds adsorbed on
activated carbon
Application of adsorption
Water treatment

Wastewater treatment (Secondary & tertiary treatment)

• At the current state of development, integrated systems are basically
divided into two based on the configuration of the biomass:
• Suspended-growth biological systems receiving activated carbon dosage:
Powdered Activated Carbon Treatment (PACT) process and the PAC added
membrane bioreactor (PAC-MBR) process.
• Attached-growth (biofilm) biological systems containing GAC media, namely
the Biological Activated Carbon (BAC) process.
Use of PAC in secondary treatment of
wastewaters
Use of GAC in tertiary and secondary
treatment of wastewaters
 Commercial adsorbents:

Cost-effective adsorbents Activated carbons (PAC/GAC)

for nutrient removal 1200-3000 EUR/ton
GHG emission; energy demand;
loss of adsorbent on reg.stage;
Zero-waste utilization problems
Abundant and low cost
Manufacturing and Waste produced
source Ion-exchange resins
remediation process
(polymers)
Regeneration 1700-3000 EUR/ton
Natural zeolites and clays Recycling energy demand; organic solvents;
utilization problems
Industrial wastes and by-products Reuse in
Agricultural residues Ease of handling other Zeolites (natural
Bio-based materials Low energy consumption application minerals)
Low GHG emission 600-1500 EUR/ton
unsteady quality; limit
High capacity and short abundances
removal time
Read more: Sands, gravels, etc.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10643380801977610
50-350 EUR/ton
low capacity and
nonspecific treatment
NLAND
 Sources of low-cost raw materials for
adsorbent production
 agricultural and household wastes- e.g. fertilizer industry waste;
 industrial by-products - fly ash, steel industry wastes, aluminium industry
wastes;
 sludges;
 sea materials - chitosan and seafood processing wastes, seaweed and
algae;
 soil and ore materials - clays, zeolites, sediment and soil, and ore
materials;
 novel low-cost adsorbents - peat moss, other industry waste such as
those
from leather industry and paper industry.

KIERTOTALOUSAM
K.FI
 Adsorbents characteristics and adsorption
capacities
Adsorption – process that allow to collect one of the component
(adsorbate) contained in liquid, for instance in mine effluent, on
the solid surface (adsorbent).

To describe particular behavior of There are plenty of those have

adsorbate on chosen adsorbent,
an equilibrium model is used.
Such model is called isotherm of
adsorption.
been proposed, but the main
their application is to express the
amount of adsorbate to be
adsorbed per unit of adsorbent as
a function of concentration.

KIERTOTALOUSAM
K.FI
 Simplest variations of layouts
for wastewater treatment
a completely mixed flow reactor (CMFR) a column contactor
inlet

Both variants could be used in the cascade

outlet

KIERTOTALOUSAM
K.FI
 Example of process calculation
An mine wastewater contains 10 mg/L of undesired contaminant, and is
going to be treated by adsorption. 95% removal is required to reach safe
discharge limit. The wastewater is discharged at a rate of 100 000 L/day.
Calculate the mass of adsorbent requirement for treatment in a completely
mixed flow reactor, if Freundlich isotherm given
q= 5.1C0.87, the q is adsorption capacity, mg/g and C is concentration, mg/L.

• Calculating the capacity of adsorbent at desired concentration (0.5

mg/L, 95% removed):
q=5.1*0.50.87=5.1*0.547=2.79 mg adsorbat/ g adsorbent
• Calculating of contaminant load
Q=(C0-Cfin)* rate(L/day)=9.5 mg/L*100000 L/day=950 g/day
• Mass of adsorbent needed
M=Q/q=950 000 mg/day k:ier2tot.a7lou9sammk.fi g/g = 340.5 kg/day
 Mass transfer zone, MTZ, part of a
Active zones at various times column where the solute is most
during adsorption and the effectively and rapidly adsorbed .
breakthrough curve

Loading – 100
Loading – 0 %
This zone moves downward
with a constant velocity as

%
A
the upper regions become B
saturated.

To design a column accurately, a
test column breakthrough
curve for the stream of interest
and the chosen adsorbent need
to be used.
C http://web.deu.edu.tr/atiksu/ana07/arit4.html
C
0
A B C
• C0- initial concentration of adsorbate
• Vb- volume of breakthrough
• Vt- volume of total exhaustion
0 Vb Vt V
Calculate the amount of adsorbent required for a column layout if the conditions
kiertotalousamk.
fai nd isotherm are the same as for the example given above?
Recent development of adsorption