ActivatedCarbontreatmentforTextile Effluents

Lecture26

Activated carbon
Activatedcarbon,alsocalledactivatedcharcoaloractivatedcoal,isagenerictermthatincludescarbon materialmostlyderivedfromcharcoal. Activatedcarbonisamaterialwithanexceptionallyhighsurfaceareaandahighdegreeofmicro porosity. Theporosityissohighthatjustonegramofithasasurfaceareaofapproximately500m,as determinedtypicallybynitrogengasadsorption. Sufficientactivationforusefulapplicationsmaycomesolelyfromthehighsurfacearea,thoughoften, furtherchemicaltreatmentisusedtoenhancetheabsorbingpropertiesofthematerial.

Powdered activated carbon (PAC)

Traditionally,activecarbonsaremadeinparticulateformaspowdersorfinegranuleslessthan1.0mm insizewithanaveragediameterbetween0.15and0.25mm. Thustheypresentalargeinternalsurfacewithasmalldiffusiondistance.PACismadeupofcrushedor groundcarbonparticles,95 100%ofwhichwillpassthroughadesignatedmeshsieve.Granular activatedcarbonisdefinedasactivatedcarbonthatisretainedona50meshsieve(0.297mm). PACmaterialisfinermaterial.AccordingtoASTMstandard,PACisclassifiedasparticlesize correspondingtoorsmallerthanan80meshsieve(0.177mm). PACisnotcommonlyusedinadedicatedvessel,owingtothehighheadlossthatwouldoccur.PACis generallyaddeddirectlytootherprocessunits,suchasrawwaterintakes,rapidmixbasins,clarifiers, andgravityfilters.

Granulated activated carbon

Granulatedactivatedcarbonhasarelativelylargerparticlesizecomparedtopowderedactivatedcarbon andconsequently,presentsasmallerexternalsurface. However,ininstanceswherediffusionoftheadsorbate isaprimaryconsideration,GACwouldassume importance.Theyarethereforepreferredforadsorptionofgasesandvapoursastheirratesofdiffusion arefaster. GACisalsousedforwatertreatment,deodorisationandseparationofcomponentsofflowsystem.GAC canbeeitherinthegranularformorextruded. Themostpopularaqueousphasecarbonsarethe12x40and8x30sizesbecausetheyhaveagood balanceofsize,surfacearea,andheadlosscharacteristics.

Adsorption

Adsorptionsupportssuchasactivatedcharcoalcanbeuseasadsorbentsforhydrophobiccompounds, includingdyemolecules. Thetechnologyissimpleandactivatedcharcoal(fromwastessuchaswood,etc)canbeobtainedata lowcost.However,thedesorptionprocessisproblematicandnotcosteffective. Thereforeboundsubstances,includingdyes,needtobedisposedoff. Coagulation,togetherwitheitherflocculationorsedimentation,isoftenusedinthetextileindustry. Coagulationispromotedbyadditionofaninorganicpolyelectrolyte,eg,polyaluminium chloride. Theseparticlesarethenseparatedbyfloatationorsedimentation.

Removal of color

Adsorption:Itistheexchangeofmaterialattheinterfacebetweentwoimmisciblephasesin contactwithoneanother.Adsorptionappearstohaveconsiderablepotentialfortheremoval ofcolourfromindustrialeffluents Owen(1978)aftersurveying13textileindustrieshasreportedthatadsorptionusinggranular activatedcarbonhasemergedasapracticalandeconomicalprocessfortheremovalof colourfromtextileeffluents.

Adsorption by activated carbon

Adsorptiononpowderedactivatedcarbon. Theadsorptiononactivatedcarbonwithoutpretreatment isimpossiblebecausethesuspendedsolids rapidlyclogthefilter(Matsuietal.,2005). Thisprocedureisthereforeonlyfeasibleincombinationwithflocculationdecantationtreatmentora biologicaltreatment.Thecombinationpermitsareductionofsuspendedsolidsandorganicsubstances, aswellasaslightreductioninthecolor (Rozzi etal.,1999),butthecostofactivatedcarbonishigh.

Granular activated carbon-biofilm

Thefeasibilityofusingagranularactivatedcarbonbiofilm configuredpackedcolumnsysteminthe decolorization ofazo dyeAcidOrange7containingwastewater. TheAcidOrange7degradingmicrobialfromanaerobicsequencingbatchreactorwhichtreatingthe azo dyecontainingwastewaterformorethan200dwasimmobilizedonspentgranularactivated carbon(GAC)throughattachment. TheGACbiofilm configuredpackedcolumnsystemshowedtheabilitytodecolorize100%oftheazo dyewhenworkingathighloadingrateofAcidOrange7at2.1g/(Lxd)withtreatmenttimeof24h. Itwasobservedthatthedecolorization rateincreasedalongwiththeincreasingofinitialAcidOrange7 concentrations,untilitreachedanoptimumpointatabout0.38g/hwithinitialAcidOrange7 concentrationsof1,150mg/Landthedecolorization ratetendtobedeclinedbeyondthis concentration.

Bentonite adsorption
Thehighchromaticityseriouslyhindersthereuseofreactivedyewastewater. Anewmethodbybentonite adsorptionandcoagulation(PAC)isemployedforremovingcolor from syntheticdyewastewaterwhichcontainsreactiveredK2G,KRNblue,KGRblue,X3Bred,KGN orange,KB3Gyellow,K2BPred,KRNyellowandKGyellow. Bentonite pretreated by4%CTMABandmilledto160orderscreenisproventothebestdecoloring agent.Fora100mL reactiveredK2Gsample(CODcr 400mg/L,25000chromaticitycolor),0.5g bentonite pretreated and2.5mL PACisenoughtodecolor wastewaterupto99.92%andthesediment timeisshort. NondegradabledyessuchasactiveredX3BandKGNorangearedeclored completelyaswell.

Adsorption is better

Theadsorptiontechniqueissuperiortoothertechniqueswithregardtosimplicityofdesign,initialcost, easeofoperationandinsensitivitytotoxicsubstances. Thistechniqueusesalargenumberofsuitablesorbentssuchasactivatedcarbon,polymericresinsor variouslowcostadsorbents(nonmodifiedormodifiedcellulosebiomass,chitin,soilmaterial,activated alumina,bacterialbiomass,etc). Identificationofapotentialdyesorbentmustbeingoodagreementwithitsdyebindingcapacity,its regenerationpropertiesanditsrequirementsandlimitationswithrespecttoenvironmentalconditions. Activatedcarbonremainsthemosteffectiveandwidelyusedadsorbentforthedecolourisationof textileindustrywastewater.